KidCare

The dispute centers on part of the rule preventing states from cutting off coverage for non-payment of premiums after children have been found eligible for the program. Eligibility is determined each year, so the state contends the rule could lead to coverage being provided for months without premiums being paid.

Florida officials are delaying the implementation of new rules for Florida’s subsidized children’s health insurance, also known as KidCare, so the incoming presidential administration can weigh in.

CMS finally accepted Florida’s application for a waiver, but with the stipulation that the state provides 12 months of continuous coverage. But the state doesn't want to accept the agency's requirements.

Florida KidCare, a childhood insurance option for some parents who lost coverage, is failing to offset the coverage gap left by the Medicaid unwinding.

The judge dismissed the state's lawsuit against two federal agencies and said the case should instead be an administrative challenge. Next stop is the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Both states want to expand eligibility for the CHIP, but their approaches to charging low-income families premiums for the coverage showcase the nation’s ideological divide on helping the disadvantaged.

A U.S. district judge Friday rejected a lawsuit filed by Florida challenging new federal guidelines in a program that provides subsidized health insurance to children.

A filing in federal court in Tampa by the Justice Department is the latest move in a battle over guidelines issued for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which operates in Florida as KidCare.

It's been nearly a year since Florida began reviewing Medicaid eligibility, and since then nearly half-a-million children have lost insurance. Many of them have fallen into a gap without coverage, including some with cancer.

The Biden administration is requiring states give CHIP beneficiaries 12 months of continuous coverage, even if families don't pay monthly premiums. State lawyers say premiums are needed for expansion of coverage signed into law last year.

As the state defends its process, the executive director of the Center for Children and Families, says in an interview, "We know children are losing Medicaid," but "where are they going?"

The Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hear presentations from AHCA, DCF and Florida Healthy Kids Corp.