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.

The move will apply to families in 16 counties designated by FEMA as eligible for federal individual assistance after the storm made landfall Aug. 30. Some counties in the greater Tampa Bay region qualify.

The law expands subsidized insurance coverage for families of four with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $90,000 annually.

The Florida Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a plan to expand eligibility for the KidCare subsidized health-insurance program, readying the issue to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee approved a bill that would increase an income threshold to qualify for subsidized coverage.

The bipartisan measure was approved in the House, 105-0. KidCare provides health insurance for families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid.

Under KidCare, families who do not qualify for Medicaid can pay $15 or $20 a month in premiums to insure children.

After the COVID public health emergency ends, funding and continuous coverage requirements go away. A report says Florida's insurance programs for low-income families have more barriers to enrollment than other states.

As many as three insurers could be chosen to provide the dental care, according to the invitation to negotiate approved by members of the Florida Healthy Kids Board of Directors.