Judge tosses Florida lawsuit over mandated health care for kids [Orlando Sentinel]

A Tampa judge dismissed Friday a lawsuit filed by Florida officials challenging the federal government’s 2024 mandate that most children in low-income families were entitled to subsidized health insurance for at least a year even if their parents stopped paying a small monthly premium.

Florida was the only state to challenge the law in court.

In the federal suit against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the state argued among other points that premium payments were crucial to the program’s survival and without them, it would “turn the program into a free-for-all, threatening its solvency, long-term stability and ability to reach even more children in need.”

U.S. District Judge William Jung ruled that his court did not have jurisdiction. Florida can appeal through CMS, and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said Friday it would.

“The agency firmly disagrees with today’s decision and intends to appeal. It’s unfortunate the Court did not address the merits of our case,” spokesperson Alecia Collins said.

Advocates for children’s health coverage, however, want the judge’s ruling to settle the matter.

“We strongly urge the DeSantis administration to adhere to the new law for the benefit of Florida’s families — the focus should be on improving children’s access to affordable health care coverage, not mounting additional barriers and undermining federal protections for children who rely on Medicaid and CHIP,” read a statement Sadaf Knight, CEO of the Florida Policy Institute.

As of January 2020, Florida was one of 30 states that charged a premium or enrollment fee for Medicaid or CHIP, known as KidCare in the Sunshine State. Several states have stopped charging premiums since then, but exact numbers weren’t immediately available.

Florida’s premium ranges from $15 to $20 a month, which the state says generates about $30 million annually.

While this lawsuit has been underway, some advocates say Florida has acted as if it already won.

In April, the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families reported that Florida had dropped 22,576 children from its CHIP program since January for not paying premiums, in violation of the federal law.

The data was made available through a public records request by the Florida Health Justice Project.

“The court’s decision today completely eliminates any excuse Florida believed it had beginning January 1, 2024 to disenroll children from CHIP/KidCare, when their parents miss a single premium payment. Florida must stop these disenrollments immediately, and direct its resources toward expanding and improving access to health care for Florida’s children rather than impeding it,” said Lynn Hearn, advocacy director of Florida Health Justice Project, in a statement.

As of April, KidCare covers more than 182,000 children, a 66% increase in enrollment since May 2023, according to Florida AHCA.

It was unclear if the ruling would affect the state’s planned KidCare expansion. In 2023, the Legislature voted unanimously to expand it to higher-income families, which was predicted to help an additional 42,000 uninsured kids.

The expansion was supposed to take effect Jan. 1 but was delayed because Florida did not know it had to submit a necessary waiver. It was then postponed after the state argued in its lawsuit that it was not financially feasible without enforcement of monthly premium payments.

“[KidCare] and especially its expansion, depends on the collection of monthly premiums,” the suit reads.

Everyone’s premiums would have risen modestly, and newly eligible higher-income families would pay $60 to $195 per month.

Ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com

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