<\/p>\n
First lady Casey DeSantis speaks alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a news conference on July 29, 2024, in Tampa.<\/p>\n
Dylan Townsend<\/p>\n
TNS<\/p>\n
Tallahassee<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday appointed the key attorney behind the controversial Hope Florida Medicaid agreement to serve as a circuit judge in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
Andrew Sheeran, general counsel for the state\u2019s Agency for Health Care Administration since 2023, was the chief legal architect behind the settlement with Medicaid company Centene at the heart of the Hope Florida saga that\u2019s now under a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n
Over 22 days in September 2024, Sheeran resurrected a dormant $67 million Medicaid settlement and inserted language to divert $10 million from the total to the Hope Florida Foundation, according to records reported on<\/a> by the Herald\/Times in August. The foundation was created by the state Legislature in 2023 to support the Hope Florida program \u2014 the brainchild of first lady Casey DeSantis to get needy Floridians off government aid by sending them to nonprofits and churches for help instead.<\/p>\n Sheeran inserted language into the Medicaid settlement justifying the $10 million diversion on the grounds that the Hope Florida program would be expanding into Medicaid.<\/p>\n But instead of helping needy Floridians in the Hope Florida program, the foundation quickly gave it away to two groups through separate $5 million grants. Those organizations then gave $8.5 million to a political committee run by DeSantis\u2019 then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier, whom he later appointed as attorney general.<\/p>\n Uthmeier\u2019s political committee, Keep Florida Clean, was intent on defeating the recreational marijuana amendment on the 2024 ballot \u2014 a key political priority for DeSantis that election.<\/p>\n The diversion of settlement funds that were ostensibly owed to state and federal taxpayers for political purposes is the subject of a criminal grand jury probe in Tallahassee. Its findings have been kept secret thus far.<\/p>\n Sheeran and the governor\u2019s office did not immediately return requests for comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n Sheeran is replacing Judge John C. Cooper, who retired<\/a> in December, on the Tallahassee-based Second Judicial Circuit Court, which hears numerous disputes involving state agencies.<\/p>\n He\u2019s the second lawyer linked to the Hope Florida scandal that DeSantis has chosen to be a judge. In January, the governor named<\/a> former Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard, who approved the Medicaid settlement, to the Second District Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n Sheeran\u2019s involvement in the Centene settlement<\/p>\n Centene had been trying since 2021 to reach a $67 million settlement with Florida involving allegations of the state overbilling the Medicaid system for prescription drugs.<\/p>\n But progress had stalled until the morning of Sept. 5, 2024, when Sheeran spoke to Centene\u2019s general counsel.<\/p>\n Drafts of the settlement made no mention of the Hope Florida Foundation until six days later, when Sheeran inserted language into the agreement to transfer part of the settlement to the foundation, emails show. Records show the Agency for Health Care Administration had a meeting planned with the governor\u2019s office, run by Uthmeier, a day prior to Sheeran\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n \u201cPer our discussion, see attached redline,\u201d Sheeran wrote to Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida and Chief of Staff Stefan Grow in an email.<\/p>\n Sheeran sent the draft to Guard, the state\u2019s then-chief deputy attorney general, the next day. Guard responded with concerns.<\/p>\n Guard wanted Sheeran to break out how much money the state would pay back to the federal government for its share of the Medicaid settlement. Medicaid, a government-sponsored health insurance program for low-income and needy Floridians, is mostly funded with federal tax dollars.<\/p>\n Sheeran declined to say but made other changes Guard wanted \u2014 such as directing the rest of the money, $57 million, to be sent to the Agency for Health Care Administration as opposed to Guard\u2019s office.<\/p>\n \u201c[Agency for Health Care Administration\u2019s] settlement agreements don\u2019t usually detail the federal share, but the Medicaid finance staff are experienced in determining the amount that needs to be returned to [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services],\u201d which runs the largely federal health insurance program, Sheeran wrote to Guard.<\/p>\n Current Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris told state senators last month<\/a> that Florida had paid the federal government for the share it was owed from the full $67 million settlement \u2014 including the $10 million the state diverted to Hope Florida Foundation, indicating their attorneys believed the federal government could view that $10 million as belonging to the Medicaid program.<\/p>\n \u201cIn an abundance of caution, we returned the federal share on that money so that we would avoid any future liability with [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] or potential litigation,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n