Medicaid

In fall 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation, a state-run nonprofit connected to his wife, Casey DeSantis. U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody was Florida’s attorney general at the time and her office approved the settlement.

President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law July 4, 2025, is expected to cut federal Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion over the next decade. One of its changes took effect Oct. 1, ending Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for many lawfully present immigrants.

A blue-ribbon panel will hold two more meetings before it adopts the final list of recommendations to the Legislature on how best to use state dollars to treat children with autism.

A Florida task force that could recommend a wholesale revamping of services used by some of the state’s needy children spent hours Monday looking at applied behavioral services (ABA) and how and when they are delivered.

Democrats on Thursday called for more investigations and resignations of top state officials after a leaked state grand jury report found Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” Medicaid money in 2024 that ended up in political committees.

U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody was then Florida’s attorney general, and her office approved the settlement. The deal said $10 million would be donated to the Hope Florida Foundation.

‘This is pretty bad,’ 11th Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan says.

The DeSantis administration slowed down state auditors reviewing how Florida conducted its Medicaid eligibility determinations following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, a state Auditor General report found.

Florida’s largest Medicaid pediatric healthcare provider is suing the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleging it erred when Medicaid officials adjusted the rates the state pays to managed care plans to include the costs of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) services to children with autism and special needs.

As Florida healthcare officials prepare to argue in court why they haven't expanded a subsidized children's health insurance, its children's Medicaid rate continues to fall.

Florida hospitals have secured approval for nearly $8 billion in supplemental Medicaid payments just before new federal limits are expected to reshape how states finance such programs.

Florida is the only state in the nation removing children from its low-cost health insurance program, KidCare, because of missed payments. It removed about 43,000 children from December 2024 to November 2025.