The Legislature in 2005 approved a plan to revamp the Medicaid system, aiming to shift more patients into HMOs or similar private managed care plans.
The change was an attempt to improve preventive care, make the system more efficient and slow cost increases. The overhaul started with pilot projects in just a few counties.
The pilot programs have been criticized because some Medicaid recipients haven't been able to easily access quality care under the new system.
A report by the inspector general for the agency that runs Medicaid last year recommended moving more slowly on revamping the system.
It noted that some recipients in the trial runs have had trouble choosing their health plan or their doctor.
But House leaders were pushing this year to expand the change to several other counties. The House passed a bill (HB 5085) that would have expanded the experiment to nine additional counties in 2010.
Rep. Aaron Bean, the sponsor of that effort in the House, said the decision was made by House and Senate leadership in budget talks over the weekend to back off the expansion of the experiment.
''There was just no appetite for it'' in the Senate, said Bean, R-Fernandina Beach.
Bean, who is in his last session because of term limits, warned though that if Florida doesn't move forward with the change it could lose out on some federal money that goes to hospitals for treating low-income patients.
He said he hoped someone would take up the issue next year in his place.
