Medicaid

A federal judge has cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit that alleges Florida did not properly inform people before dropping them from the Medicaid program after a COVID-19 public health emergency ended.

Saying that notices sent by the state “border on incomprehensible,” attorneys for Medicaid beneficiaries fired back this week in a potential class-action lawsuit alleging Florida has not provided adequate information before dropping people from the health-care program.

The state Agency for Health Care Administration has reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that is expected to lead to the Medicaid program providing incontinence supplies to adults with disabilities, according to court documents.

The state wants a federal judge to put on hold a ruling aimed at keeping children with complex medical conditions out of nursing homes, saying a shortage of nurses would make it “impossible” to comply with a key part of the decision.

After a decade-long legal fight, a federal judge Friday ordered Florida to make changes to keep children with “complex” medical conditions out of nursing homes and help them receive care in their family homes or communities.

The pandemic forced states to not kick anyone off the Medicaid rolls. That ended in April. But many of those booted from the health insurance program now scramble to keep their eligibility.

Florida’s Medicaid coverage is about to undergo large-scale changes in the coming year.

As states begin checking everyone’s eligibility for Medicaid for the first time in three years, as many as 14 million people could lose access to that coverage.

A new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families finds that the rate of uninsured children nationally dropped from 5.7% to 5.4% between 2019 and 2021 and that the rate of uninsured kids in Florida fell from 7.6% to 7.3%. Health policy experts warn, these gains could be short-lived because when federal protections in the Families First Act expire, states will be reevaluating Medicaid eligibility requirements and that could happen as soon as April 2023. We take a closer look in a conversation with the lead author of the report, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families co-founder and Executive Director Joan Alker.

A new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families finds that the rate of uninsured children nationally dropped from 5.7% to 5.4% between 2019 and 2021 and that the rate of uninsured kids in Florida fell from 7.6% to 7.3%. Health policy experts warn, these gains could be short-lived because when federal protections in the Families First Act expire, states will be reevaluating Medicaid eligibility requirements. That could happen as soon as April 2023.