Even though there is a new rule in place to protect them, Florida is “callously” taking away health insurance benefits from thousands of kids from low-income families. A scheme called Florida KidCare, which is part of the Children’s Health Insurance Scheme (CHIP), has been used to drop more than 20,000 kids. Families who are still poor but don’t make enough to get Medicaid can get help from this program.
Some of them were kicked off of Florida’s health insurance plans for not paying their premiums, which is against the law according to the “continuous eligibility clause” in the Consolidated Appropriations Act. You should still get one year of benefits from this rule if at least one premium payment is made.
Officially, Governor Ron DeSantis did not agree with the rule. He said it was against state laws that require monthly fee payments and that it turned CHIP into an “entitlement program.” Because of DeSantis, the state is still taking people out of the program, even though a decision hasn’t been made yet.
There have been at least 5,000 kids taken out of the program every month since April of this year. That’s what Florida says, and that number includes kids who are too old for benefits or who are switching to a different plan.
Kathy Castor, a Democrat from Florida, said, “It’s just incredibly cruel and a crisis of callousness on the part of our governor and the state of Florida that they are willing to sacrifice sick children for their political goals.”
“When young children stay healthy, it saves everyone money and family heartache in the long run.” But Ron DeSantis loves to go to court. Florida is the only state in the country that is so angry that kids will get health care that they are suing in federal court, she said.
A lot of people have said that the way Florida handles health benefits for kids lets them stop kids from getting Medicaid and CHIP altogether.
