Dear Secretary Weida:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit state comments on the Florida Children’s Health Insurance Program Eligibility Extension.
The undersigned organizations represent millions of individuals facing serious, acute and chronic health conditions. We have a unique perspective on what individuals and families need to prevent disease, cure illness and manage chronic health conditions. The diversity of our organizations and the populations we serve enable us to draw upon a wealth of knowledge and expertise that is an invaluable resource regarding any decisions affecting the Medicaid program and the people that it serves. We urge the state to make the best use of the recommendations, knowledge and experience our organizations offer here.
Our organizations are committed to ensuring that Florida’s Medicaid program provides quality and affordable healthcare coverage. We support the state’s proposal to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage to 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The state estimates that this demonstration will cover an additional 14,000 children in the first year of implementation, rising to 41,000 children in the fifth year. Our organizations support this expansion of health coverage, particularly at a time when thousands of children and families in Florida have lost their healthcare coverage for procedural or paperwork issues.
However, we remain concerned by the state’s continued premium requirements. Our organizations have consistently supported the need for access to quality, affordable coverage. The evidence is clear that premiums make it harder for individuals to obtain or keep healthcare coverage. The inclusion of premiums can also exacerbate existing disparities in access to healthcare, as they have been shown to lead to lower enrollments for Black enrollees and lower-income enrollees, compared to their white and higher-income counterparts, respectively. Premiums can be a significant barrier for individuals accessing care, and removing them increases equitable access to care for all enrollees.
Additionally, our organizations support continuous eligibility as a method to protect patients and families from gaps in care. Continuous eligibility promotes health equity, and increases continuity of coverage. Research has shown that individuals with disruptions in coverage during a year are more likely to delay care, receive less preventive care, refill prescriptions less often, and have more emergency department visits. Our organizations support continuous eligibility in order to reduce these negative health outcomes for children in Florida, who face one of the highest uninsurance rates in the country.
Our organizations support Florida’s proposal to expand CHIP coverage to 300% of the FPL, and we urge the state to remove premium requirements to comply with the Consolidated Appropriations Act guidance, ensuring that children do not have gaps in coverage.