Talahassee – The $10 million that was made up of Medicaid dollars to pay state and federal taxpayers by the Ron DeSantis administration, which bypassed by the state-created charities last year, was made up of the opposite of what the governor and other officials publicly claimed.
Three years ago, lawyers working with the state drew a settlement agreement in which Florida’s largest Medicaid contractor, Centene, taxpayers at Centene, had won $67,048,611 for drug therapy, according to a copy of the draft agreement obtained by Times/Herald.
This is the exact amount settled by DeSantis officials with Saintine last year. But instead of repatriating all $67 million to state and federal funding, they sent it $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity overseen by First Lady Casey DeSantis.
The funds were then sent to two nonprofit organizations that did not need to report how they would be used. These “dark money” groups later gave $8.5 million to a political committee overseen by DeSantis’ Chief of Staff in a series of deals that some Republican lawmakers believe were illegal. How Medicaid is allocated and paying health services for the poor is highly regulated.
The document contradicts a statement by Desantis and state officials, saying that $10 million is a charitable contribution by Centene, separate from what was owed to the state.
DeSantis said earlier this month that $10 million was “added to what they (states) were getting.”
“It’s kind of cherry blossoms and they agreed to make an extra contribution,” he said. Because in his only detailed statement, an extraordinary settlement has become the target of House Republican investigations.
DeSantis primarily responded to the accusations by infuriating reporters and lawmakers who questioned aspects of Florida’s initiative.
The February 2022 draft agreement was created in the same month that the then-highest principal of Desantis’ staff began settlement negotiations, calendar entries show.
Florida officials first realized that Centrene was owing state money in 2021. At the time, Ohio, Mississippi and other states were reaching settlements along with the Medicaid giant after burning too much for prescription drugs.
The New York Times was revealed last year by a Mississippi law firm that was overshadowed by politically connected Mississippi law firms.
The data that the law firm used to calculate how unborrowed each state is, is hidden from the public, and it is impossible to know if Centene paid the full share.
Florida signed one of the companies, Liston & DEA, in December 2021. A few months ago, other lawyers working with the company in the Centene settlement donated $100,000 to the Republican Party in Florida and $10,000 to the then Ashley Moody Political Committee.
Desantis spokesperson and state officials say Centene first notified the states that it owes funds. But that doesn’t match what one of the original lawyers said.
“We approached states, including Florida, which are eligible to participate,” Attorney Lawrence Dees said in a statement Monday.
On February 10, 2022, Desantis Chief of Staff James Uthmeier had a “Centene Call” with some of their lawyers. The records were posted on the Governor’s Public Records Portal.
On June 16th of that year, Uthmeier held another meeting with a lobbyist representing his lawyer, records show. He was joined by top DeSantis administration officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Strickland.
Strickland oversees healthcare institutions that implement Desantis’ Hope Florida initiative, including healthcare management agencies. Casey Desantis does not have an official Chief of Staff, but Strickland serves the role functionally, according to four people familiar with the administration’s duties.
Uthmeier and Strickland held three more meetings on Centene that year.
It is unclear if negotiations with the Center are after 2022. Last month, KFF Health News reported that Florida and Georgia were the final holdouts of over 20 states that reached a settlement with the centre. Florida officials did not respond to questions on the news outlet. (Almost all states have announced settlements in news releases.)
The reality is that DeSantis officials quietly reached a $67 million settlement with the company in September.
It wasn’t publicly available by the state until this month when Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican, and a state legislator, began asking about the $10 million donation the Florida Foundation received as a result of “long-standing conflicts” with the state.
Law firm Liston & Deas was not part of the final settlement. The state fired them in 2023 and did not pay them for their services, records show. DEAS hopes to The Times/Herald on Monday that they hope the Florida Foundation will not be mentioned in the settlement consultation, and the company didn’t know that until the lawyers saw the media reports.
Desantis said this month that the settlement was a “good deal” for the state.
“There was a possibility that we could have filed a lawsuit,” he said. “But I can tell you, you look at it, it’s not a clear case that we were guaranteed to win, and certainly doesn’t guarantee we’ll win that much money.”
Desantis spokesman Bryan Griffin said the negotiations were handled by the healthcare management agency.
“Centene has made the 2021 claims issue positive and the state has worked for many years to ensure that it is resolved,” Griffin said in a statement.
“The (agent) settlement was a great benefit to the state,” he added.
Usmeyer, who DeSantis nominated for Attorney General this year, was not involved in negotiations in 2024, spokesman Jeremy Redfern said in a statement. He said the settlement meeting was referred to healthcare management agencies to “appropriate agencies to manage the issues.”
“As Chief of Staff, James met countless large businesses doing business in the state,” Redfern said.
Records show that the then healthcare department that oversaw Medicaid did not attend any of the five 2022 Centna-related meetings. The assistant secretary of the Medicaid agency attended one meeting.
Andrade, who is investigating a $10 million move to the Hope Florida Foundation, told The Times/Herald on Monday that Dasantis is “a misunderstood or lying by his reduced circle.”
“It was wasted, simple, simple Medicaid money,” he said.
He said the meeting records raise new questions about why the state had been waiting so long to finalise its contract.
“They were rushing until they suddenly needed cash to fund their campaign,” he said. The failed 2024 initiative would have allowed Florida recreational marijuana. DeSantis threw political weights during past election seasons.
“Now we’re trying to delve into that bright idea of carving out $10 million for Hope Florida,” Andredo said.
