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Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Lawyers in Hope Florida Medicaid settlement distanced clients from rushed deal
As DeSantis administration officials scrambled last year to craft a Medicaid overbilling settlement that diverted millions to the Hope Florida Foundation, lawyers for healthcare contractor Centene and the Florida Attorney General's Office tried to distance their clients from the agreement, a trove of newly released records shows. Over 22 days in September, then-Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard repeatedly removed references to his office in drafts of the settlement passed among negotiators. Centene's lawyers inserted language emphasizing that the company was 'directed by the state' to donate $10 million of its $67 million settlement to the foundation. The attorneys insisted that Florida's Office of Inspector General or attorney general be mentioned in the agreement. And they inserted language absolving the company from liability in 'any dispute that may arise' from how the money was used. The haggling was prescient. When the settlement was revealed this year, it ignited a firestorm among Republican lawmakers. Nearly all the $10 million donation to the state-created Hope Florida Foundation was diverted to a political committee created by Gov. Ron DeSantis' then-chief of staff James Uthmeier to run ads opposing last year's recreational marijuana ballot initiative. A top GOP lawmaker accused the DeSantis administration of illegally laundering federal Medicaid funds, and former federal prosecutors have said the transactions may have been illegal. Prosecutors in Tallahassee launched a criminal investigation related to the claims. The agreement had ramifications in Washington, as well. Guard, who eventually signed the settlement, has seen his nomination by President Donald Trump for federal judge held up after Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said he should face questions about it. Guard declined to comment. Emails and draft settlement agreements included among 1,000 pages of records reviewed by the Herald/Times detail how DeSantis' administration crafted the unusual legal settlement last fall, as mail-in ballots were set to go out to voters. At the time, DeSantis was crisscrossing Florida and spending millions of taxpayer dollars on ads to defeat an initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana. Centene and outside lawyers had asked the state repeatedly since 2021 to settle the company's claims that it overbilled Florida for prescription drugs, records show, but Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration didn't take action until a phone call with the company on Sept. 5, 2024. The initial draft of the settlement made no mention of the Hope Florida Foundation. Agency officials prepared to brief the governor's office on the settlement on Sept. 10. Whether the meeting happened, or who attended, is not reflected in the records. But the next day, the Agency for Health Care Administration's general counsel sent a version to Secretary Jason Weida that required Centene to give $5 million of its settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation. More changes followed. A draft sent to Guard on Sept. 12 removed all references to the state's Office of Inspector General. Guard pushed back. The agreement required the attorney general, instead of the Agency for Health Care Administration, to handle the remaining $62 million. Guard also questioned how much would have to be paid to the federal government, which oversees and mostly funds Medicaid. The agreement 'is different than I have seen in a settlement with Medicaid monies,' Guard wrote. He did not question the diversion of $5 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. The Agency for Health Care Administration's general counsel agreed with Guard and changed the settlement to make the agency receive and distribute the money on behalf of the state. He also increased the donation to the foundation to $10 million before sending another round of changes to Centene. The records do not show why the donation to Hope Florida Foundation was added to the drafts, or why it was doubled. The Agency for Health Care Administration did not answer questions asked by the Herald/Times. Centene's general counsel responded six days later with more changes apparently designed to protect the company. Money from Medicaid-related legal settlements belongs to state and federal taxpayers, and diverting it to charities or political committees could amount to theft of federal funds or other crimes, four former federal prosecutors told the Herald/Times in May. Centene held a phone call with the state's lawyers to discuss the changes on Sept. 20. The company's version of the settlement stated that the 'Attorney General directs' the company to donate the $10 million and that Centene wasn't responsible for how the money would be allocated. Centene lawyers also wanted to mention that the Office of Inspector General was one of the state entities authorizing the settlement. It's not clear why, as the office isn't typically a party to legal settlements. Centene resolved similar overbilling claims with at least 20 states, and only one other settlement that is publicly available mentions inspectors general, according to a Herald/Times review. 'We would like FL OIG to continue to be explicitly listed,' one of their attorneys wrote. When the Attorney General's Office received the newest draft, Guard balked. On Sept. 24, he deleted seven references to the Attorney General's Office and clarified that the Agency for Health Care Administration, not the attorney general, was directing the company to make the donation. 'I get that they [Centene] negotiated this in every other state with the AG,' Guard wrote to the agency's general counsel. 'But, they are negotiating this agreement with AHCA [Agency for Health Care Administration] and it is going to have to look slightly different.' After the health agency's attorney made most of the changes, Guard still seemed less than enthusiastic. He wrote that he didn't really want to represent the state in the legal settlement, 'but I am fine with this.' The assurances from the attorney general's office — the state's top law enforcement entity — seemed crucial to Centene's lawyers, however. On Sept. 27, they sent a draft that added back nine references to the office. Each reference clarified that both the Agency for Health Care Administration and the attorney general were directing Centene's payments. 'I think we are down to one real issue,' wrote Centene's general counsel, Chris Koster, the former attorney general for Missouri. 'I agree that we are down to one issue,' the agency's general counsel, Andrew Sheeran, responded. The two held a phone call later that afternoon, and Centene backed down. The final version, signed later that day, did not include the additional references to the attorney general or the inspector general. Centene declined to answer questions and pointed to its past statements on this issue. 'The terms in the settlement document speak for themselves,' the company said. 'Centene had no part in or knowledge of any decision by the Hope Florida Foundation regarding the subsequent use of any Foundation funds.' 'Red flags' DeSantis' administration kept the settlement secret until April this year, when Republican lawmakers and the Herald/Times obtained copies of the Hope Florida Foundation's Oct. 14 meeting minutes. The minutes showed the foundation received $10 million as a result of 'a longstanding dispute with the Agency for Health Care Administration.' Herald/Times reporting previously revealed that for years, the charity didn't keep meeting minutes, had no budget or bylaws and didn't file its tax returns. And the money did not stay with the foundation , a state-created charity designed to support the state's Hope Florida program to move people off government assistance. Within days, it was routed to two political nonprofits, which gave nearly all of it to a political committee controlled by Uthmeier that was dedicated to defeating the marijuana amendment. The leader of one of the nonprofits said Uthmeier called her to request the money from the foundation, according to a Republican lawmaker who investigated the matter. The nonprofit director later said that Uthmeier 'had limited involvement' and never told her what to do with the money. DeSantis has defended the settlement, saying that Centene's donation was a 'cherry on top' of what the company owed. Uthmeier, who was appointed attorney general by DeSantis this year, said he had nothing to do with the final settlement talks. He was involved in meetings with Centene in 2021, records show. Neither has disputed that the $10 million was used for political purposes. Uthmeier's office hadn't released any records about the transactions until last week, when it gave hundreds of pages to Politico Florida 'exclusive for the next two weeks,' according to copies of text messages between a reporter and Rep. Alex Andrade, the Republican representative who probed Hope Florida. The messages were obtained by the Herald/Times. Uthmeier's spokesperson, Jeremy Redfern, emphasized two things about the records, according to the texts from the reporter to Andrade: That they showed Guard was initially concerned about the legality of the settlement but eventually 'got it,' and that the money sent to the state in the settlement 'was more than three times the size of the state's actual financial loss.' The Attorney General's Office last week released 390 pages of documents – many of which were requested in April – after the Herald/Times threatened to sue. Reporters also obtained hundreds of pages of emails and draft settlements from sources. Redfern did not answer questions about the settlement or why the state first gave the records to Politico. He also said Uthmeier 'never participated in any settlement negotiations and doesn't know anything about' the scheduled September 10 meeting last year regarding the draft agreement. 'Your questions demonstrate that you are deliberately misreading the public records our office provided you on a very expedited basis,' Redfern wrote in an email. Medicaid statutes allow states to recover as much as three times damages. Centene's records show that other states received settlements based on the same formula. Part of that formula also included a baseline of $10.8 million to encourage states to settle with the company and not litigate their claims. Regardless, that doesn't mean the money can be divided for purposes that aren't related to Medicaid, Andrade said, pointing to 2008 federal guidance. 'It looks very much like red flags were raised by the attorney general's office and by Centene,' Andrade said after reviewing the records himself. 'They were at the 10-yard line. And while they had some heartburn about it, it wasn't sufficient to blow the whole thing up.' He added: 'The CYAs [Cover Your Asses] were evident.' Andrade said it was also clear the state understood the money transferred to the foundation belonged to Medicaid, which would restrict how it could be spent. When the agency's lawyers inserted the donation into the agreement, they also justified it by referencing how the Hope Florida program was expanding into Medicaid. The justification that remained in the final agreement was crafted by one of Centene's lawyers: the state Agency for Health Care Administration 'desires an expanded role for Hope Florida in the Medicaid program.' 'That says it all,' Andrade said.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmaker says DeSantis administration is withholding Hope Florida records
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is refusing to turn over records relating to the Hope Florida charity to House lawmakers, according to the Republican investigating the organization. Earlier this month, Rep. Alex Andrade requested bank records and other information from the state about the Hope Florida Foundation, the state-created charity meant to support the first lady's initiative. The charity has since turned over those records to DeSantis' Department of Children and Families for release, Andrade said. But the department, which oversees the charity, is 'now just sitting' on them, he told the Times/Herald on Wednesday. 'They refuse to answer phone calls,' Andrade said of the department. Andrade has been looking into the state's decision to divert $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the foundation. The Hope Florida charity was created to support the Hope Florida program, which began in the Department of Children and Families and seeks to help Floridians get off government aid. Andrade is also looking into the state Agency for Health Care Administration as part of his investigation, because the agency directed the Medicaid company Centene to pay the $10 million, which came from a $67 million settlement related to overbilling prescription drugs, to the foundation. He made a separate request for records to the Agency for Health Care Administration. The agency told him that it had 'compiled and reviewed' the records on April 22 but, like the Department of Children and Families, it still has not turned them over. 'They refuse to produce them or respond to our calls now,' Andrade said about the agency. When asked why the records had not been turned over, DeSantis spokesperson Sierra Dean noted in an email that Andrade said last week that his subcommittee's investigation into Hope Florida was ending. Andrade made the announcement after three key witnesses did not show up to a committee hearing to answer questions. 'In any event, agencies worked with the subcommittee in good faith, sent representatives to multiple subcommittee hearings, and provided information refuting Mr. Andrade's accusations,' Dean said. 'Yet Mr. Andrade ignored the evidence before him.' She added that 'he, like the Tampa Bay Times, is acting in bad faith and looking for the next hit.' The Times/Herald has also struggled to get records related to Hope Florida. In February, it requested several records, including the foundation's bank ledger, which would capture all financial transactions since it was created in August 2023. The records must be released under the state's public records law. On Wednesday, the foundation's lawyer responded by turning over an electronic spreadsheet of transactions. Its metadata showed that it was created in January. The spreadsheet was missing both the $10 million it received from Centene's settlement and the two $5 million grants it gave to two nonprofits days later. The two nonprofits, which don't disclose their donors, then sent at least $8.5 million to a political committee overseen by DeSantis' then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier, in a series of transactions that Andrade said is illegal. DeSantis and Uthmeier have denied wrongdoing. Andrade said that if state 'bureaucrats aren't competent enough' to respond to records requests, he has no faith in them handling the state's business. 'It's obvious they're being told to obstruct and distract right now,' Andrade said. 'This issue isn't going away just because they're playing dumb.' Although Andrade's committee abruptly dropped its probe into the charity last week, he said he's still looking into it in his capacity as a lawmaker who oversees a portion of the state's budget. He has requested from the state bank records, emails regarding the settlement, emails regarding the money sent to the Hope Florida Foundation and drafts of the settlement itself. He said he requested the records from the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the governor's office and the foundation. He has also requested from the governor's office all text messages and call logs between Uthmeier and other people involved in the $10 million diversion and subsequent transactions. Although Florida has a broad public records law, the DeSantis administration has methodically withheld releasing documents requested by news outlets and the public since he took office in 2019. Records can take years to receive, and news outlets and others have sued his administration multiple times over the years. In 2023, ClickOrlando reported that state agencies will often compile the records within days or weeks but send them to the governor's office for an additional review. That review can take months.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Florida Senate won't confirm 2 DeSantis officials linked to Hope Florida
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Senate will not take up confirmations of two DeSantis administration officials who were questioned earlier this month by legislators about Hope Florida, a key lawmaker told the Times/Herald on Monday. Shevaun Harris, the secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, and Taylor Hatch, the head of the Department of Children and Families, can still be reappointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Sen. Don Gaetz, the chairperson of the committee responsible for vetting appointees, said his committee has run out of time to screen the two officials this legislative session, which is scheduled to end May 2. The Senate process allows two years to complete the confirmation process. Gaetz said the decision not to confirm them this year wasn't directly related to questions around the Hope Florida program and its charity, but because there were other issues surrounding agency actions that state senators want to vet. 'I personally have a number of questions for both secretaries that don't relate in any way to Hope Florida, but relate to other issues associated with their departments, and I believe that other senators on our committee do, too,' Gaetz said. The confirmation delays are a sign that the agency heads are not just facing scrutiny from the Florida House as it investigates Hope Florida – a key initiative of first lady Casey DeSantis – but from the Florida Senate, as well. The news that Harris and Hatch won't get confirmed this session was first reported by the Florida Phoenix. Gaetz, R-Niceville, said he wants to know more about $160 million that the Legislature gave the Agency for Health Care Administration in 2023. The money was intended to repay money owed to the federal government, but the agency spent the money on other things, Florida Politics reported. The issue has been a point of contention during budget negotiations. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has also said he wants to know more about how the money was spent by the state. 'I want to probe very deeply into that,' said Gaetz, the chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. Gaetz said he is 'interested' to see where the Florida House investigation into Hope Florida ends up. His son, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, has been a fierce critic of the first lady's initiative and has used his platform as a conservative TV host to talk about the issue. The House has been investigating the operations and finances of the program and the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity created to support the initiative, in recent weeks. At the center of the controversy: a $10 million donation the foundation received from a $67 million Medicaid state settlement that was previously undisclosed to the state Legislature. Both Harris and Hatch were grilled about Hope Florida during tense committee hearings in the House this month. The Hope Florida program intends to move Floridians off of government services. The Hope Florida Foundation, a charity, is supposed to support that mission by awarding grants to churches and nonprofits that help those people. As the previous secretary for the Department of Children and Families, Harris oversaw both the foundation and much of the program. But she struggled to answer questions from House lawmakers about the program's performance earlier this month, and she would not say what the charity did with the $10 million. The Times/Herald later revealed that the charity gave $5 million apiece to two separate organizations — Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida's Future Inc. The groups, which don't have to disclose their donors, later gave millions to a political committee waging an anti-marijuana campaign backed by the governor. Harris told lawmakers that the $10 million was a 'separate contribution' by Centene and not money owed to the state. But a 2022 settlement agreement draft obtained by the Times/Herald stated that Centene owed $67 million in restitution to state and federal taxpayers. When Hatch faced the House committee, she would not say what the two organizations did with their $5 million grants. The director of the Hope Florida program is resigning after this month. A board member of the charity also resigned this month. Gaetz said his committee has not been asked to look into the matter by Senate President Ben Albritton and said that his committee would not generally have jurisdiction over money inquiries. He denied that the delay in confirmations was the Senate's way of having a hand in the Hope Florida investigation. 'Anybody that imagines some sort of hand of the Senate president in moving confirmations this way or the other way is imagining something that's not true,' Gaetz said. 'I'm chairman of the committee. I think I would know.'
Miami Herald
22-04-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
DeSantis officials with Hope Florida oversight won't get Senate confirmation hearings
The Florida Senate will not take up confirmations of two DeSantis administration officials who were questioned earlier this month by legislators about Hope Florida, a key lawmaker told the Herald/Times on Monday. Shevaun Harris, the secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, and Taylor Hatch, the head of the Department of Children and Families, can still be reappointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Sen. Don Gaetz, the chairperson of the committee responsible for vetting appointees, said his committee has run out of time to screen the two officials this legislative session, which is scheduled to end May 2. The Senate process allows two years to complete the confirmation process. Gaetz said the decision not to confirm them this year wasn't directly related to questions around the Hope Florida program and its charity, but because there were other issues surrounding agency actions that state senators want to vet. 'I personally have a number of questions for both secretaries that don't relate in any way to Hope Florida, but relate to other issues associated with their departments, and I believe that other senators on our committee do, too,' Gaetz said. The confirmation delays are a sign that the agency heads are not just facing scrutiny from the Florida House as it investigates Hope Florida — key initiative of first lady Casey DeSantis — but from the Florida Senate, as well. The news that Harris and Hatch won't get confirmed this session was first reported by the Florida Phoenix. Gaetz, R-Niceville, said he wants to know more about $160 million that the Legislature gave the Agency for Health Care Administration in 2023. The money was intended to repay money owed to the federal government, but the agency spent the money on other things, Florida Politics reported. The issue has been a point of contention during budget negotiations. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has also said he wants to know more about how the money was spent by the state. 'I want to probe very deeply into that,' said Gaetz, the chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. Gaetz said he is 'interested' to see where the Florida House investigation into Hope Florida ends up. His son, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, has been a fierce critic of the first lady's initiative and has used his platform as a conservative TV host to talk about the issue. The House has been investigating the operations and finances of the program and the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity created to support the initiative, in recent weeks. At the center of the controversy: a $10 million donation the foundation received from a $67 million Medicaid state settlement that was previously undisclosed to the state Legislature. Both Harris and Hatch were grilled about Hope Florida during tense committee hearings in the House this month. The Hope Florida program intends to move Floridians off of government services. The Hope Florida Foundation, a charity, is supposed to support that mission by awarding grants to churches and nonprofits that help those people. As the previous secretary for the Department of Children and Families, Harris oversaw both the foundation and much of the program. But she struggled to answer questions from House lawmakers about the program's performance earlier this month, and she would not say what the charity did with the $10 million. The Herald/Times later revealed that the charity gave $5 million apiece to two separate organizations — Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida's Future Inc. The groups, which don't have to disclose their donors, later gave millions to a political committee waging an anti-marijuana campaign backed by the governor. Harris told lawmakers that the $10 million was a 'separate contribution' by Centene and not money owed to the state. But a 2022 settlement agreement draft obtained by the Herald/Times stated that Centene owed $67 million in restitution to state and federal taxpayers. When Hatch faced the House committee, she would not say what the two organizations did with their $5 million grants. The director of the Hope Florida program is resigning after this month. A board member of the charity also resigned this month. Gaetz said his committee has not been asked to look into the matter by Senate President Ben Albritton — and said that his committee would not generally have jurisdiction over money inquiries. He denied that the delay in confirmations was the Senate's way of having a hand in the Hope Florida investigation. 'Anybody that imagines some sort of hand of the Senate president in moving confirmations this way or the other way is imagining something that's not true,' Gaetz said. 'I'm chairman of the committee. I think I would know.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
DeSantis administration wants to inject Hope Florida into Medicaid program
TALLAHASSEE — The DeSantis administration wants to do for Florida Medicaid recipients what it's been trying to do for people on food stamps and welfare — use Hope Florida's network of nonprofits to help wean them off government assistance. The Agency for Health Care Administration, one of the agencies that falls under the governor's authority, says it will accomplish that goal by stitching Hope Florida — a loosely-structured state program spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis — into the contract for its Medicaid program, its largest federal contract at $143 billion over the next six years. But several lawmakers, including House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, believe that may be a disastrous move that could jeopardize billions of federal dollars Florida receives each year to provide health care for Florida's poor. They are alarmed by new language in the Medicaid contract forcing managed care plans to work with Hope Florida or face dire consequences. The Medicaid developments deepen the ongoing controversy surrounding Hope Florida, long viewed as a potential centerpiece of Casey DeSantis' possible run for governor but now the subject of legislators' criticism and unwanted media attention regarding its unproven track record and seemingly loose record-keeping. Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who chairs the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, last week called Hope Florida a 'black hole' He spent nearly three hours in a legislative hearing grilling officials with AHCA. The agency runs the Medicaid program for 4.2 million Floridians and has a checkered track record of managing those federal funds, racking up nearly $1 billion in fines. Unsatisfied with their answers about Hope Florida, the Medicaid contract and other issues, Andrade promised to hold more hearings and use subpoena powers if necessary to get to the answers he wants. 'We had three state employees who couldn't provide a straight answer to simple questions,' Andrade said. For weeks, he and other lawmakers have been frustrated by the lack of details from the Hope Florida organization about the 30,000 people it claims to have gotten off welfare and the state and federal dollars being funneled into the program. They also have grilled health officials over donations to the program, especially $10 million steered from a $67 settlement from Centene, the biggest Medicaid contractor in the country. That money went to two dark-money committees that quickly donated millions to defeat a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana that DeSantis opposed. 'So far it looks as though It could be illegal,' Perez told a group of reporters last week about the settlement agreement. 'And I only say that because we were never notified of the $10 million.' An enraged Gov. DeSantis called the questioning of Hope Florida's finances 'baseless smears' on himself and his wife. 'Shame on you in the Florida House and your terrible leadership,' DeSantis said during a news conference in Kissimmee Monday. Perez said lawmakers had a right to hold Hope Florida and the state agencies that run it accountable. The concerns raised by Andrade's committee stemmed from a discussion of the state's newest contract with Medicaid for its managed care plan, which is responsible for providing health insurance to most of the state's Medicaid recipients. Andrade focused on a section of the 414-page contract with the header 'Prioritizing Hope Florida,' which requires managed care plans to work with Hope Florida to 'enable eligible enrollees to gain the necessary education, job, and life skills to achieve independence and 'graduate' out of Medicaid.' That raised red flags for Andrade, who said AHCA was unable to provide answers for how that would work since Hope Florida — essentially a referral service — provides no actual services and has offered few details to back up its claimed accomplishments. Why, he asked, do agency officials want to prioritize it 'in the largest contract the state executives and the largest bank account the state issues funds from'? He was also concerned about a requirement that the managed care plans provide Hope Florida with Medicaid client health data 'to enhance the integration of case management and coordination of service delivery.' Failure to provide such information could subject the managed care plans to 'sanctions and corrective action plans, or liquidated damages .. as determined by the Agency,' the contract states. Andrade noted that such harsh penalties were attached to other sections of the contract. Brian Meyer, the deputy secretary for Medicaid at AHCA, told the committee the agency wanted to make it clear Hope Florida was part of its Medicaid work. 'With respect to the phrase 'Prioritizing Hope Florida,' you know, the agency would seek any action necessary if the plans flat out refused to integrate,' he said. Rep. Marie Paule Woodson, D-Miami, said she was concerned about the money and the potential breach of data by sharing client information. 'You are not connecting the dots for me to fully understand what is going on,' she said. Shevaun Harris, who oversaw Hope Florida's operations for four years while she was secretary of the Department of Children and Families, was questioned at the meeting and later complained in a video that she was 'ambushed.' Mallory McManus, who was her deputy chief of staff at DCF and followed her over to AHCA, said Andrade 'purposefully misconstrued the structure and nature of the Hope Florida program, which is shameful.' AHCA signaled its intentions to mesh Hope Florida into the Medicaid program as far back as September, when DeSantis Chief of Staff Jason Weida was still AHCA secretary. The agency negotiated a settlement agreement with Centene, the nation's largest Medicaid provider, over allegations it overcharged the state for prescription billings. The agreement, signed Sept. 27, ordered Centene to return $67 million in federal taxpayer dollars, with AHCA specifically directing Centene to pay $10 million of that as a one-time donation to the Hope Florida Foundation. The settlement agreement states that 'Hope Florida, through The Hope Florida Foundation, Inc., serves a mission that is important to the policy goals of the State of Florida' and that 'AHCA desires an expanded role for Hope Florida in the Florida Medicaid program.' A few weeks after the agreement was signed, the Hope Florida Board of Trustees turned over $5 million apiece to two dark-money committees. Those organizations turned around a week later and donated millions of dollars apiece to Keep Florida Clean, a committee set up by DeSantis and run by his former chief of staff James Uthmeier to fight Amendment 3, a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana that failed to win the needed 60% of the vote in November. Andrade and others said that $10 million should have gone into the general fund to pay for services to needy Floridians. They also said the deal violated a state law that requires all settlements to be approved by the state's chief financial officer and deposited in the state's general fund bank account. But Uthmeier, appointed attorney general by DeSantis in February, defended the settlement agreement as proper on Monday. 'These other nonprofit organizations that have helped you know, against the Amendment 3 effort, we should be thankful to them, to all of them, they stepped up in a big way, and because of that, we won,' Uthmeier said.
