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State Children’s Health Insurance Program

Phase 1 Effective Date: April 1, 1998

Revised: 1/26/98, 2/19/98, 3/3/98, 3/6/98 Phase 2 Effective Date: July 1, 1998

Revised: 8/20/98, 8/24/98, 10/1/99, 7/28/00, 1/31/01, 7/02/02, 7/22/02, 1/3/03, 2/13/04, 9/27/04, 11/15/04, 8/11/05, 10/1/06, 7/1/09, 7/1/10, 7/1/11, 7/1/12 19 Managed care is an integral part of the Florida Medicaid program. Medicaid beneficiaries have several types of managed care options available, including managed care organizations and MediPass, which is a primary care case management program. Children account for approximately two thirds (2/3) each of the populations eligible for MediPass and managed care organizations. Florida has a strong historical commitment to Medicaid outreach. Since the late 1980s, the state has out stationed eligibility staff with major health care providers to make eligibility services more accessible. Out posted sites have included hospitals serving large numbers of Medicaid patients, county health departments and Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centers. Currently, almost 254 eligibility specialists are out posted. Florida has developed outreach brochures emphasizing Medicaid and other benefits for low-income working families and providing information on transitional benefits, including transitional Medicaid coverage for families leaving welfare for work. All materials are available in a variety of languages, reflecting the state’s multicultural environment. Florida was part of a 17-member group of states working with the Southern Institute for Children and Families. The Institute received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to provide technical assistance, hold conferences, and prepare outreach materials to assist states in informing low- income families who may or may not be losing other public assistance eligibilities about other benefits that they may qualify for, including Title XIX or Title XXI benefits. Florida Healthy Kids Healthy Kids is another Florida KidCare component for uninsured children in Florida. As of July 1, 2005, this program provides coverage to more than 203,730 children, of which 177,721 are Title XXI eligible. Healthy Kids is authorized under section 624.91, Florida Statutes. Initially, The Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (FHKC) used school districts to create large health insurance risk pools to bring affordable, accessible, quality private sector health care to the population of uninsured children. • In the Healthy Kids program, the children themselves qualify for coverage. • It is a solution for parents who are not offered employer-based health insurance. • A child’s coverage is not dependent on parents remaining employed.