Trump’s $1.5 billion healthcare gift may hurt Medicaid push
MEDICAID EXPANSION HAS LONG BEEN A PRIORITY OF STATE DEMOCRATS.
TALLAHASSEE
At first, Florida only wanted the federal government to re-up the state’s Medicaid program into 2024.
But last week, in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidential administration, the feds extended the state’s program through June 2030.
That struck some Florida advocates for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act as suspicious timing. Under Florida’s current system, the state hospitals that provide so-called “charity care” to the poorest patients get reimbursed by a combination of federal and local funding commonly referred to as the “LowIncome Pool.”
With another decade of generous federal funding for the Low-Income Pool, those advocates say, lawmakers might be less inclined to then expand Medicaid — long an objective of state Democrats.
have to go to the regular terminal that everyone else goes to,” said Lester Sola, director of the county’s Aviation Department, which operates MIA. “The premier passengers are willing to pay ... to get a completely different experience.”
Miami-Dade expects a windfall catering to the VIPs, with the terminal operating out of the abandoned former Pan Am headquarters on the outskirts of the MIA campus off Northwest 36th Street.
After paying at least $4 million to rehab the county building, the terminal operator would pay MIA rent and a 7% share of sales at one of the most exclusive terminals in the United States.
LAX HAS THE MODEL VIP TERMINAL
County administrators said they’re only aware of another VIP terminal, the one that opened in 2017 at Los Angeles International Airport. There are others abroad, including in Dubai, Milan and Tel Aviv.
At LAX, the private operator, P/S, charges as much as $8,000 for a single flight. That’s a $4,500 yearly membership fee, plus $3,150 per flight, which covers the member and three other passengers. That’s on top of the ticket itself. Want to be driven home directly from the plane in the P/S car? Add an extra $300.
On Thursday, a partner in P/S joined a video meeting for potential bidders of the MIA project, with proposals due in March.
Tiondra Wright, a procurement executive at MIA, walked the meeting through some of the bidding requirements on the kind of VIP experience Miami-Dade wants.
The winning proposal will provide “services for high-profile commercial airline passengers who wish to avoid the congestion and delays of normal MIA terminal passenger processing and who seek an upscale travel experience,” she said.
BMW RIDE TO THE RUNWAY
At the Los Angeles VIP terminal, travelers get their own suites while waiting for BMW rides to their commercial flights.
The MIA requirements include 24-hour service, and request amenities that include private rooms with sleeping accommodations and showers; upscale meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner and premium liquor options; conference rooms; spa services; outdoor decks; and a dogwalking area.
Sola said MIA plans to have the new VIP terminal open by 2023. The draft agreement includes a lease for 17 years, and requirements that the winner renovate the former Pan Am headquarters in compliance with the county’s historic preservation standards.
“VIP services are something we’ve been wanting to do,” he said. With a remote terminal, MIA can profit from a venture set up on the premise that MIA is best avoided if money isn’t a factor.
“The company,” he said, “sells the service where you don’t go to the airport.”