Florida should accept federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage in the state, Scott said at a news conference, in a stunning reversal.

"While the federal government is committed to paying 100% of the cost of new people in Medicaid, I cannot, in good conscience, deny the uninsured access to care," Scott said. The Republican-led legislature must approve the measure for it to take effect.

Conservative opponents of "Obamacare" reacted with disappointment and anger.

"I am terribly disappointed in [Scott's] decision to expand Medicaid in Florida," Erick Erickson of the conservative blog Red State wrote. "As one of the chief opponents of Obamacare and, before it, Hillarycare, governor Scott knows this is not the right thing to do. I would like to blame the staff around him, but the ultimate decision was his to make and he made it."