The state of Florida has approximately 5.5 million people on Medicaid, one of the largest enrollments in the country. Changes are coming to the system over the next year that are bound, then, to affect a huge number of people.
In 2020, a public health emergency was declared throughout the US because of the coronavirus pandemic. Starting then, states could not disenroll anyone from Medicaid if they wanted to continue to receive enhanced funds. For that reason, no one on Medicaid—in Florida or anywhere in the US—has had to have their eligibility redetermined since 2020. Before Covid-19, people had to be redetermined every year.
Now, in 2023, the public health emergency has been declared over, so people will once again have to have their Medicaid eligibility redetermined.
How will people know what their next step should be? Erica Monet Li, a health policy analyst with the Florida Policy Institute, explains.
“Our Department of Children and Families in Florida is responsible for making sure that people know that their redeterminations are starting soon,” Li said. “So what they have said is that 45 days before their eligibility renewal date comes up, they're going to get some communications either via email, mail to their house, or get a text message to their phone, that their renewal date is coming up, that's 45 days before.”
For that reason, it is critical that people update their contact information. If you moved during the pandemic or after the hurricane, or you’ve changed your phone number, be sure to visit the Department of Children and Families access portal online and update your information. Then wait for your renewal date.
The earliest anyone may get a notice that their account is closing is April 19th, Li says. The earliest date anyone may lose their Medicaid in Fla is April 30th.
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