Florida sees decline in Medicaid recipients with June numbers falling to 4.36 million
Florida – June saw a further decline in enrollment numbers for Florida’s Medicaid program, which adds to the continuous trend since the federal public health emergency linked to COVID-19 was terminated. State data show that the program had 4,363,948 recipients in June, a down from the 4,424,280 reported in May.
Initiated in January 2020, the public health emergency has resulted in a notable increase in Medicaid enrollment, peaked almost at 5.78 million in April 2023 Additional federal money helped to sustain this rise by mandating states to keep enrolled people under constant coverage during the emergency.
But Florida started reviewing the Medicaid eligibility of its citizens as the public health emergency ends in spring of 2023. As the state addresses the backlog of eligibility decisions suspended during the epidemic, this review has produced a consistent declining number of beneficiaries.
There has been much criticism over this declining enrollment. A federal judge is currently deliberating a class-action lawsuit claiming that Florida improperly removed individuals from Medicaid without adequate notice. The lawsuit claims that possibly breaking procedural rights, the state neglected to notify beneficiaries adequately before stopping their coverage.
Presiding over the trial in Jacksonville this week, U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard must decide whether these allegations have validity. The result might have major consequences for Florida’s Medicaid programs and the impacted recipients.
Many people are closely observing the court procedures since the choices taken could affect not only the thousands of people who have lost coverage but also create guidelines for state Medicaid enrollment during post-emergency times. The state of affairs emphasizes the difficulties of leaving emergency responses behind and the complexity of handling public health financing and regulations.
More about the incident
In a distressing revelation during a bench trial, a “computer error” and inaccuracies from third-party data sources caused Florida to unjustly revoke Medicaid coverage from residents, including new mothers deprived of crucial postpartum care. Florida’s Department of Children and Families’ government operations expert Will Roberts testified on major problems with the state’s Medicaid eligibility decision-making system.
For many Floridians, these mistakes resulted in incorrect rejection of coverage, leading to a class-action lawsuit claiming infringement of patient rights resulting from inadequate notification and withdrawal of medical coverage.
Under the direction of U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard, the trial exposed systematic flaws in updating eligibility systems even following legislative changes. Florida expanded Medicaid post-birth coverage in 2021 from two months to a year, however many women were reverted to the shorter eligibility period without appropriate notice due to outdated procedures run with Deloitte Consulting LLP.
Beyond this particular problem, Florida started quickly eliminating individuals off Medicaid rolls in March 2023, making it among the top for disenrollment rates in the United States. The continuous trial could result in major changes in Medicaid eligibility management by Florida and reinstatement of coverage to possibly hundreds of thousands impacted.
