Rep. Castor Leads Florida's Democratic Congressional Delegation in Urging DeSantis on Immediate Steps Necessary to Protect Floridians
"Medicaid expansion will save lives and boost hospitals at this critical time - that's never been more clear," said Castor.
"Expanding Medicaid would allow 840,000 Floridians to gain coverage and draw down
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To: Honorable
RE: Take Immediate Steps to Protect Floridians During the COVID-19 Crisis
Dear Governor DeSantis:
As members of the Florida Congressional delegation, we urge you to take immediate steps to protect the health and wellbeing of our fellow Floridians during the COVID-19 crisis. We appreciate some of the steps you have already taken, but we have heard from Floridians on the ground about ways you can improve things for our neighbors during this challenging time.
Health Care Aid Congress Passed to Help States and Localities during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Over the last few weeks,
Expand Medicaid Immediately
A way to ensure Floridians have health coverage is by expanding Medicaid. Expanding Medicaid would allow about 840,000 Floridians to gain coverage and draw down
Medicaid expansion would fill the growing gap left by shrinking Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) payments from the federal government, which the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act delayed.
Reinstate Medicaid Retroactive Eligibility
A critical action you should take is to immediately halt implementation of
Retroactive eligibility is designed to protect Medicaid beneficiaries and their families from large and often surprising medical bills for medical services and long-term care. Importantly, this protection was also designed to minimize uncompensated care costs faced by hospitals and other health providers who take care of our fellow Floridians and are facing new financial and operational challenges due to COVID-19. It is important to remember that those who have services paid for through retroactive eligibility are only those who are deemed eligible for Medicaid.
Boost Resources to Enroll Floridians in Medicaid and CHIP and Loosen Requirements
We urge you to look at ways that the
We are hearing that wait times for help with Medicaid enrollment and questions can last up to two hours and there are times when Floridians looking to enroll in Medicaid are not getting calls back to conduct an interview due to inadequate staffing levels. In the best of times this is unacceptable, but during a public health crisis it is shameful. Have you or DCF come up with a plan to address this and get more staffers on the job immediately?
Along those lines, we would encourage you to loosen Medicaid determination requirements to get more Floridians health coverage and to keep folks enrolled. It is already too burdensome to sign up for Medicaid or retain coverage in
Maintenance of Effort and Increase Floridians Eligible for Medicaid with the 6.2% FMAP Bump
As we stated before, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act included a 6.2 percent FMAP increase to help states during this crisis. For states to receive that funding bump, they must freeze Medicaid disenrollment (Maintenance of Effort). This is a vital provision to allow Floridians to continue receiving the care they need - especially during an economic downturn. What steps is the state taking to implement this provision? We found a notice of this change deep in
With the FMAP bump, you should also step up for our seniors and neighbors with disabilities by decreasing or eliminating asset tests for these populations. Additionally, you should eliminate certain amounts of income over medically needy income levels for seniors and Floridians with disabilities. This would be a win-win since it would cover vulnerable populations more quickly and free up state workers and resources to focus on enrollment. It is vital to ensure seniors and individuals with disabilities have uninterrupted health coverage since they are more vulnerable to serious complications from COVID-19.
Withdraw from Texas v.
Affordable coverage for
It is our duty to ensure eligible Floridians have access to care without going into debt to obtain it, so we strongly encourage you to look at ways you can protect the health and wellbeing of Floridians during this crisis. We stand ready to work with you to put Floridians first.
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