Medicaid beneficiaries in Florida have filed a potential class-action lawsuit against the state, alleging that they were not adequately informed before being removed from the healthcare program following the conclusion of a federal public health emergency declared in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial for this lawsuit has been scheduled by U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard on May 13, based in Jacksonville.
The basis of the lawsuit lies in the end of the federal public health emergency in spring 2021. Medicaid is financed jointly by the federal and state governments, with Washington agreeing to increase its funding for the program during the emergency. However, in return for this additional financial support, states were required to refrain from removing individuals from the Medicaid rolls during the emergency period. Florida’s Medicaid program saw a significant increase in beneficiaries, from approximately 3.8 million in January 2020 to nearly 5.78 million in April 2023, partially due to the inability to drop individuals who might not typically qualify based on income levels.
After the end of the public health emergency, Florida implemented an eligibility “redetermination” process, resulting in hundreds of thousands of individuals being removed from the program. Enrollment stood at around 4.8 million as of February, according to data published on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website