Florida Medicaid Program Information

The Medicaid program in Florida is a federal and state health insurance program that provides low income Florida residents and families with health care coverage. Both Florida and the United States Government share the expenses of the Medicaid program. In Florida, the Agency for Health Care Administration manages the Medicaid program. Although the Health Care Administration oversees Medicaid, your eligibility for Florida Medicaid is decided by either the Department of Children and Families (DCF) or if you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) through the Social Security Administration.

Florida Medicaid Eligibility

In Florida, there are 5 general groups of people that may qualify for Medicaid coverage. You may meet Florida Medicaid eligibility requirements:

If you are a low income family with children up to the age of 18 and your family's countable income does not go over the income limits and your countable assets are not over $2000.

If your children are in need of Medicaid and your family income is under the limit for the age of the child. The parents and caretakers can apply for Medicaid on behalf of your child is under the age of 19 and living in your home.

If you are pregnant there are three different ways that you can apply for Medicaid. These include a temporary coverage for prenatal care only, a simple full coverage, and an application for regular Medicaid.

If you are not a citizen of the United States but need emergency medical assistance you may be eligible for Medicaid to help cover a serious medial emergency. This can also include the emergency delivery of a child.

If you are older than 64 years of age or you are disabled you may be eligible for Medicaid. If you are age 65 years or older and your income is low you might qualify. If you are disable and eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you are automatically eligible for Medicaid coverage from the Social Security Administration.

Florida Medicaid Card

If you meet Florida Medicaid requirements, you will be issued a permanent gold Medicaid card. You should present your Medicaid card to your medical providers when you are requesting medical assistance.

What if you don't qualify for Medicaid but need medical assistance?

If you are not eligilbe to receive Mediciad because your income or assets are above the Florida Medicaid program limits, you might be eligible for the Medically Needy program. You need to be enrolled in the Medical Needy program and have a specific amount of monthly medical bills before Medicaid can share the cost of your health care.

If you are not eligible for Medicaid you might be able to get assistance paying for your prescription drugs through the Florida Discount Drug Card Program.

If you are 19 to 64 years of age, and have not had any health insurance for the previous six months, you might be eligible for affordable health insurance through the Cover Florida Health Care Program.

Florida Medicaid Claims Data Online

Florida recently announced that they are the first state to offer Medicaid claims data online. Physicians in Florida are the now able to access statewide data on Medicaid patient claims through a Web portal.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration launched the service which provides up to 18 months of patient records for selected clinical information. Before physicians and other health professionals can view a patients records, they must obtain the patients' consent, except for medical emergencies.

The Florida Medicaid agency also introduced personal electronic health records for Medicaid enrollees. Medicaid patients can submit information like emergency contact information and family medical history. The system is called My Florida Health eBook, and the system will also include Medicaid claims information.

It is difficult to predict how many of Florida's 2.6 million Medicaid enrollees would fill out their personal records. Having access to patient's prescription histories should be useful because many Medicaid enrollees are on multiple medications.

The recent federal stimulus package included about $19 billion in Medicaid and Medicare incentives for developing better health  information technology. All of the states are currently working on some version of electronic health records.