As chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, Hialeah Republican Rene Garcia is a key member of Senate President Andy Gardiner’s leadership team.
Gardiner, for instance, sent Garcia and Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, to meet March 31 with U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials about funding for the Low Income Pool program, which helps hospitals and other providers care for low-income and uninsured patients. Questions about continued funding for the program, known as LIP, are a key focus of Florida’s stalled legislative budget negotiations.
