Florida congressional Democrats are urging Governor Ron DeSantis to cover kids’ health and lower costs for families.
Tampa Representative Kathy Castor led Florida Democrats in calling on Republican Governor DeSantis and the state of Florida to provide health coverage to at least 43,000 children who rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), known as Florida KidCare, as the law requires. The Democrats say that for over two years, Gov. DeSantis has illegally blocked enrollment in KidCare, in defiance of federal and state law.
In addition to Tampa Rep. Castor, Central Florida Rep. Darren Soto, Orlando Rep. Maxwell Frost, and South Florida Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Frederica Wilson, and Lois Frankel signed the congressional letter.
“The bipartisan and unanimous approval of the KidCare expansion was meant to be a godsend to Florida children and their families, but Governor DeSantis’ refusal to follow federal law for two years has delayed the expansion, prevented 42,000 uninsured children from gaining coverage, and illegally ripped insurance away from at least 43,000 already eligible and enrolled children,” the lawmakers write. “In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA), Congress enacted legislation that requires state Medicaid and CHIP programs to provide 12 months of continuous eligibility for children under the age of 19. This protection went into effect over two years ago on January 1, 2024, with explicit directives for states to keep children continuously enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP for one year, with only two exceptions: the child reaches age 19, or the child ceases to be a resident of that state.”
Florida is the only state in the country to violate the thoughtful and cost-effective expansion of health coverage for children in accordance with 12-month continuous eligibility, denying families access to critical health care. During that time, Florida’s child uninsured rate has gotten worse and remains one of the highest in the nation, with more than 400,000 Florida children going without health insurance, according to the Georgetown Center for Children and Families.
“Florida families are urgently waiting for Governor DeSantis to stop inflicting unnecessary harm and finally implement the bipartisan KidCare expansion,” the lawmakers concluded. “President Trump has expressed a commitment to protect the health and well-being of every American child, so we urge his Administration to immediately enforce the continuous eligibility law and work with the State of Florida to allow families access to affordable coverage.”
Rep. Kathy Castor has led Florida Democrats in holding the state accountable, calling for federal action in April 2024 on Gov. DeSantis’ illegal stripping of tens of thousands of Florida Kids of their health care. The Democrats say that Gov. DeSantis and the state of Florida were also on the losing end of a federal court decision recently that took the state to task for failing Florida families under Medicaid, another rejection of the state’s callous treatment of Florida families.
Read the full letter from Florida congressional Democrats to Administrator Mehmet Oz and Director Daniel Brillman at the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services:
RepCastor_kidcareletter1
