Law helps more the 50,000 more Kids Qualify for State Run Health Insurance in Florida

Florida Kidcare is run by the State of Flroida and helps children 19 and under have health insurance. As of may 2009 there are 1.6 million Florida children that have health insurance through Florida Kidcare. A new bill signed today will allow for over 50,000 more children to be able to have health insurance coverage through Florida Kidcare.

Senate Bill 918 builds on improvements made in 2008 to the Florida KidCare program by increasing enrollment eligibility and improving administration and implementation procedures. The legislation provides more immediate health care coverage, decreases the time required for determining eligibility, and streamlines the financial eligibility process by allowing electronic verification of family incomes. Under the new legislation, more than 54,000 children will be eligible for KidCare.
Streamlining measures also include automatic enrollment for enrollees with special health care needs, a shorter loss of coverage period from 60 to 30 days for families that voluntarily cancel their policies, and a “reactivation” option for applicants who have not become enrolled after 120 days. The bill also adds the Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families to the Board of the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation.
In 2008, Governor Crist championed legislation that removed the 10 percent “full pay cap” in KidCare. Previously, not more than 10 percent of the enrollees in KidCare could buy into the program at its full monthly premium of $128 for Healthy Kids. Last year’s Cover Florida Health Care legislation removed this limitation, allowing all eligible families willing to pay full premiums for KidCare health care coverage to do so.

Tampa Parent
Author: Tampa Parent

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