A federal judge has scheduled a trial for May 13 in a lawsuit filed by Medicaid beneficiaries who were removed from Florida’s program following the conclusion of a public health emergency declared in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard, based in Jacksonville, issued an order last week to set the trial date as per the court docket.
The lawsuit was filed in August and alleges that the state did not adequately inform individuals before terminating their enrollment in the healthcare program. The basis of the lawsuit lies in the conclusion of the federal public health emergency in spring 2021. Medicaid is financed jointly by the federal and state governments, with Washington agreeing to increase its funding for the program during the emergency. However, in return for additional financial support, states were required to refrain from removing individuals from the Medicaid rolls during the emergency period.
Florida’s Medicaid program saw a significant increase in beneficiaries, from approximately 3.8 million in January 2020 to nearly 5.78 million in April 2023, partially due to an inability to drop individuals who might not typically qualify based on income levels during this time. Following the end of the public health emergency, Florida implemented an eligibility “redetermination” process resulting in hundreds of thousands of individuals being removed from Medicaid enrollment as of February according to data published on state Agency for Health Care Administration website.