Medicaid

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.

The state with the nation's second highest number of uninsured — 858,000 Latinos — is Florida, according to the report. More than 71 million people with low incomes rely on Medicaid, which expanded under the Affordable Care Act.

Florida is now the fifth state to be identified for what the administration says is fraud, waste and abuse within the Medicaid program.

House and Senate differ on key aspects of Medicaid legislation. Former Senate President Don Gaetz’s bill, SB 1758, goes beyond the federal law by including work and training requirements for certain Medicaid enrollees. The House hasn’t included the work requirements in its companion legislation, HB 693.