On Tuesday, the Florida Democratic Party launched its statewide “The Time is Now: Medicaid Expansion Tour” in Gainesville. At the event, Mayor Lauren Poe and Dr. Cynthia Moore Chestnut, amongst other local activists, discussed why Medicaid expansion is one of the most critical issues in the 2018 election — and highlighted how Rick Scott broke his election-year promise to expand health insurance to 800,000 Floridians.

Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe: “Floridians access to health care is under threat from both Donald Trump and Rick Scott. Washington and Tallahassee are working overtime to deny people access to basic health care. Just last week we saw an extraordinary effort from President Trump to undermine health care to undermine Americans’ ability to get quality, affordable health care. Instead of protecting millions of Floridians who have a pre-existing condition — like high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease — from being denied the affordable health coverage they gained under the ACA, Donald Trump is throwing them under the bus. But instead of standing up to what we see in Washington — Rick Scott, Adam Putnam and Ron DeSantis are silent.”

Dr. Cynthia Moore Chestnut, Cynthia Moore Chestnut, Chair, Alachua County Democratic Party Executive Committee: “Let’s start at the beginning: in 2013, ahead of his re-election campaign, Rick Scott lied to the people of Florida and said he would expand Medicaid. Instead of honoring his promise to the people of Florida, Rick Scott turned his back on 800,000 Floridians and refused to expand Medicaid. This decision has hurt the people of Florida, kept more than 800,000 people from getting health care, and kept billions of dollars out of the state of Florida.”