FROM AHCA: Tallahassee, Fla. – On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Florida Politics published a misleading story titled “More than 22K children dropped from Florida KidCare in 2024”. It is important the Agency sets the record straight on this important topic to provide Floridians the truth about how the Florida KidCare program operates and how the federal government’s unlawful action only serves to harm the integrity and long-term stability of the program. Below you will find important facts that were left out of the story:

FACTS:

• As of April 2024, more than 182,000 children have enrolled in Florida KidCare, representing a 66% increase in enrollment since May of 2023.
• Florida KidCare was never designed to be a permanent entitlement program like Medicaid. At its core, Florida’s unique program serves as a bridge from Medicaid to private insurance plans, helping families to continue their path to a more prosperous career and financial independence.
• Disenrollment in KidCare has been consistent at these levels for years and occurs for a variety of reasons including children aging out of the program and families graduating on to private insurance as they find more gainful employment.
• There are situations where a recipient is disenrolled due to a failure to pay monthly premiums. In those circumstances it’s important to note their eligibility for KidCare benefits is not impacted—in fact, disenrollment does not affect eligibility at all. Allowing disenrollment for nonpayment of premiums is crucial to maintaining the integrity and long-term sustainability of the program and helps Florida continue to maintain its high level of quality service for KidCare participants.
• In June of 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed bipartisan legislation that expanded the program’s income eligibility requirements from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level giving Florida the ability to serve an additional 68,000 uninsured children.

To date, the Biden Administration is yet to approve Florida’s expansion of the KidCare program. In late 2023, amid the Agency’s work to implement the expansion of KidCare, the Biden Administration unlawfully intervened. CMS issued unfunded mandates through an FAQ that prohibited states from disenrolling for nonpayment of premiums even though – like any subsidized program – the viability of KidCare and its expansion depends on the collection of these premiums. Both federal and state laws supporting the termination of coverage for nonpayment of premiums remain intact today and have been in place for many years. The Agency anticipates this unlawful mandate would cost the State approximately $1 million each month and, according to CMS own FAQs, this additional burden would go entirely to the state with no matching funds from the federal government.

The Agency for Health Care Administration is committed to better health care for all Floridians. The Agency administers Florida’s Medicaid program, licenses and regulates more than 48,000 health care facilities and 47 health plans, and publishes health care data and statistics at www.FloridaHealthFinder.gov. Additional information about Agency initiatives is available via Facebook (AHCAFlorida) and Twitter (@AHCA_FL).