1. Family Misuses Funds Received for Members in Their Care, Now May Kick Them Out A story to help explain what happened to Florida’s Medicaid stimulus funding Florida CHAIN October 2009

3. The Lawmakers normally spend $225 each month in utilities to keep their home safe and livable.

4. Last spring, however, it became clear that the upcoming summer would be the hottest on record.Florida CHAIN

6. At first, the Lawmakers panicked. They discussed drastic action like shutting off power to parts of the house or kicking some family members out altogether.Florida CHAIN

8. So the Lawmakers were actually paying $75 less out-of-pocket for utilities than they were before the summer: $225 normal utility bill + $ 75 extra utility costs due to record heat - $150 Heat Wave Assistance = $150 summer utility bill Florida CHAIN

10. The Lawmakers treated the $75 like an ongoing bonus, though they knew it wouldn’t last.

11. They committed to make payments on something completely unrelated (and that didn't benefit the children and seniors). Florida CHAIN

13. But as the Lawmakers knew would happen, the $150 in short-term Heat Wave Assistance stopped flowing.

14. So until the weather breaks, the Lawmakers will still need to come up with $75 more per month than they were used to paying last spring.Florida CHAIN

16. Yes, there's the $75 extra cost due to the hot weather.

17. But there's also the $75 they had always spent on utilities but committed to something else when the Heat Wave Assistance kicked in.

18. They again began to panic and threaten the children and seniors who were the reason they got the extra money in the first place.Florida CHAIN

19. How Will the Lawmakers Even Try to Justify This to Their Family? To the children & seniors who will suffer, they say: The problem is, during the summer, we were paying $150 a month for utilities. But now our utility bill is jumping to $300 a month. So our bill is doubling! These utility costs will bankrupt us! We have to live within our means. But of course the truth is: Once fall arrives, they will pay no more for utilities than they did in the spring. Florida CHAIN

20. How Will the Lawmakers Even Try to Justify This? But to themselves, they say: Yes, we know it will get cooler soon, and our utility bills will come down again. And yes, we know we committed money that we had always used for utilities on other stuff, and that’s why we don’t have it. But we can blame it on the heat wave and even on the Heat Wave Assistance. If we hadn‘t taken the money, we wouldn’t have this problem. Florida CHAIN