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<\/p>\nWLRN has partnered with PolitiFact to fact-check Florida politicians. The Pulitzer Prize-winning team seeks to present the true facts, unaffected by agenda or biases.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The way Florida treats kids enrolled in its low-income children’s health insurance program is an outlier in the United States, a Democratic congresswoman said.<\/p>\n
“Governor (Ron) DeSantis is breaking the law,” U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., wrote April 29 on X<\/a>. “Florida is the only state in the nation kicking children off their affordable health coverage and preventing over 40,000 children from getting KidCare coverage.”<\/p>\n KidCare is Florida\u2019s subsidized health insurance for children from low-income families \u2014 the state\u2019s version of the federal Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.<\/p>\n Florida officials challenged a federal rule that requires keeping children enrolled in affordable health insurance \u2014 and Florida is the only state taking children off its program because of missed payments. State officials removed about 43,000 children from December 2024 to November 2025.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Health equity scorecard finds Black patients have the worst outcomes in Florida<\/a><\/p>\n The DeSantis administration has filed lawsuits against both the Biden and Trump administrations to exempt Florida or reverse the rule. The rule requires states to keep children continuously enrolled in subsidized health insurance plans for 12 months even if parents miss a payment.<\/p>\n Two of Florida\u2019s lawsuits have been unsuccessful; one is pending.<\/p>\n “There are no other states doing this,” said Joan Alker, director of Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Children and Families. “Florida is removing thousands of children, violating federal law, and saying they aren\u2019t going to expand their program because of this federal rule.”<\/p>\n In her post, Castor shared an article<\/a> by KFF, a health policy think tank, that described Florida\u2019s yearslong delay of a KidCare program expansion, which state lawmakers approved in 2023.<\/p>\n When asked for comment, Jay Rhoden, a Castor spokesperson, referenced the KFF article and said other states, such as Texas<\/a>, have asked the federal government to rescind the rule requiring continuous coverage but haven\u2019t defied the law.<\/p>\n DeSantis\u2019 office directed PolitiFact\u2019s questions to the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration, which helps oversee KidCare and has been involved in the litigation. The agency did not respond to our email seeking comment.<\/p>\n Florida fights federal rule, delays expansion\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s KidCare is a Medicaid expansion program for children whose families earn too much money to qualify for traditional Medicaid but do not earn enough money to buy private or marketplace insurance.<\/p>\n The federal government pays about 69 cents of every dollar spent on KidCare, with the rest funded through state funds and monthly premiums of about $15 to $20, depending on household income.<\/p>\n Florida is among the states with the highest number of uninsured children<\/a>, with more than 400,000, or 8.5%, lacking insurance, according to 2024 federal data.<\/p>\n In May 2023, the Florida Legislature unanimously approved<\/a> expanding KidCare\u2019s eligibility threshold from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level. That means children in a family of four qualify for coverage if the annual household income is $93,600 or less, up from about $66,000. DeSantis signed it into law in June 2023.<\/a><\/p>\n A 2023 House analysis<\/a> estimated the expansion would cover 42,000 more Florida children. Studies have found that subsidized healthcare coverage improves children\u2019s lives by increasing access to care<\/a> and improving long-term health outcomes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also in 2023, the federal government<\/a> approved<\/a> the “continuous eligibility” rule that required states to provide 12 months of healthcare coverage for children enrolled in subsidized programs. The rule ensures children\u2019s coverage wouldn\u2019t lapse in cases of nonpayment or administrative issues. Alker said children sometimes lose coverage because of a bureaucratic mistake, such as missing a notice when they move.<\/p>\n The DeSantis administration sued<\/a> the federal government in an attempt to nix the rule, and also submitted a waiver<\/a> to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to seek approval of the KidCare expansion and to ask the agency to let the state continue removing children from the program for missed premiums.<\/p>\n The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved Florida\u2019s waiver to expand KidCare in December 2024 but said the state must comply with the federal rule.<\/p>\n From December 2024 through November 2025, Florida removed about 43,000 children from the program for premium payment lapses, according to data obtained by KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Florida is an extreme outlier. Thousands of children are losing their health insurance,” said Holly Bullard, chief strategy and development officer at the Florida Policy Institute, a left-leaning nonprofit advocating for the state to implement the expansion. “Not only is it the only state suing, but it’s also the only one not complying with both state and federal law.”<\/p>\n A federal judge dismissed<\/a> Florida\u2019s first lawsuit over the rule, and the state withdrew<\/a> its second lawsuit in February.<\/p>\n Florida is now suing the federal government for a third time<\/a>, accusing it of Freedom of Information Act violations related to the expansion waiver and asking the court to strike the condition that Florida must abide by the continuous enrollment requirement.<\/p>\n Florida officials have pointed to ongoing litigation for the delay in expanding the program.<\/p>\n “You can sue over federal policy you don\u2019t like, but you’re supposed to comply with the law at the same time,” Bullard said.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has not enforced the continuous enrollment rule in Florida, or issued any warnings to the state.<\/p>\n Florida Health Justice Project, a nonprofit legal aid group, and the National Health Law Program sued Florida\u2019s Medicaid and KidCare agencies<\/a> in March to implement the approved expansion.<\/p>\n Our ruling<\/p>\n Castor said, “Florida is the only state in the nation kicking children off their affordable health coverage.”<\/p>\n The state is the only one in the country not complying with a federal rule requiring states to keep children enrolled in subsidized healthcare for 12 months regardless of missed premium payments. Florida has removed at least 43,000 children from KidCare for nonpayment since December 2024.<\/p>\n We rate Castor\u2019s statement True.<\/p>\n Our Sources<\/p>\n X.com,\u00a0Rep. Kathy Castor post<\/a>, April 29, 2026Florida KidCare,\u00a0Accessed May 11, 2026 Florida Senate,\u00a0CS\/CS\/HB 121: Florida Kidcare Program Eligibility<\/a>, 2023 Florida Senate,\u00a0CS\/CS\/HB 121 Florida Kidcare Program Eligibility. House of Representatives Final Bill Analysis<\/a>, June 23, 2023 Congress.gov,\u00a0Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328): Medicaid and CHIP Provisions<\/a>, Oct. 24, 2023 Medicaid.gov,\u00a0Continuous Eligibility<\/a>, Jan. 1, 2024 Medicaid.gov,\u00a0Florida Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program Eligibility Extension<\/a>, Dec. 2, 2024\u00a0CourtListener,\u00a0State of Florida v. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (8:24-cv-00317)<\/a>, Feb. 1, 2024\u00a0\u00a0CourtListener,\u00a0STATE OF FLORIDA v. CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES (3:26-cv-00915)<\/a>, Feb. 9, 2026 Florida Phoenix,\u00a0Federal judge dismisses FL lawsuit against feds over children\u2019s health insurance<\/a>, May 31, 2024 Georgetown University,\u00a0U.S. and State-by-State Child Health Coverage Trends<\/a>, Sept. 12, 2025 KFF,\u00a0Florida Delays Children\u2019s Health Insurance Expansion as Uninsured Rate Rises<\/a>, April 27, 2026\u00a0Florida Phoenix,\u00a0DeSantis administration gets pushback for its child health policies<\/a>, April 17, 2026 Central Florida Public Media,\u00a0Florida stalls as 42,000 Kids wait for affordable healthcare<\/a>, April 14, 2026 Florida Phoenix,\u00a0State report: More than 43K children dropped from program for nonpayment<\/a>, Oct. 8, 2025 National Health Law Program,\u00a0Florida Health Justice Project and National Health Law Program Sue to Enforce Children\u2019s Health Coverage Expansion<\/a>,\u00a0 March 9, 2026Email interview, Jay Rhoden, spokesperson for Rep. Kathy Castor, May 11, 2026 Phone interview, Holly Bullard, chief strategy and development officer at Florida Policy Institute, May 11, 2026 Phone interview, Joan Alker, director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, May 12, 2026Email interview, Molly Best, spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis, May 11, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WLRN has partnered with PolitiFact to fact-check Florida politicians. 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