Rick Scott Claims He'll Drop His Opposition To Health Care Law

The man who has made a career out of trying to kill the Affordable Care Act, Florida Governor Rick Scott, now says he's willing to drop his opposition to the law.

Color me skeptical, because I'm finding this a bit hard to swallow.

"The election is over and President Obama won," Scott said. "I'm responsible for the families of Florida ... If I can get to yes, I want to get to yes."

Scott had previously stated that he would not go along with any parts of the health care overhaul that the state controls.

But his newfound willingness to have a "conversation" about putting it in place in Florida comes at a critical time.

States have until Friday to notify federal authorities whether they plan to set up health insurance exchanges, a marketplace where individuals and smalls businesses can shop for the most affordable coverage and where many will get help from the government to pay their premiums.

Florida so far has taken no steps to set up its own exchange.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced an extension last week. She still wants to hear if states will be setting up health insurance markets under the law. But governors can now take another month, until mid-December, to submit detailed blueprints.

Most states have been on the fence awaiting the election outcome. They now have three options: running their own exchanges, operating an exchange in partnership with the federal health officials, or letting the feds handle everything.

Scott said he still has concerns about the exchanges, including the cost of running one and whether it would increase the cost of health care for families. But he said he's sure federal officials want to find ways to provide affordable health care to people.

Certainly this is a move for Scott to appeal to voters in Florida given that his popularity is so low and he's one of the most unpopular Governors on record.

He devoted his entire career before running for office to blocking the health care laws, so a quick turnaround even for political purposes leaves me wondering how his actions will compare to his talking points now.

He campaigned on bringing jobs to Florida, which translated more into giving large corporations huge tax breaks to create jobs, which haven't exactly  materialized in promised numbers. He also slashed education from his first budget while claiming he was doing great things for education. After public outcry, this year he put back a fraction of those cuts back into education, but it remains that cuts are cuts.

Let's hope that there's no catch to this sudden flip-flop and that he does more than just "have a conversation." The Affordable Care Act was "the law of the land" long before now. Scott decided he didn't have to implement it only because he thought Mitt Romney would win the White House, and he was perfectly happy to say "no, no, no" before, even when critics said otherwise. Surely his backers, the Koch brothers won't like his sudden new found fondness for the law.

Just as he tried so hard to suppress the vote in Florida, and then turned around and claimed not to understand why our election last week was such a disaster, we'll have to wait and see what he actually does on both issues.