In May, the number of people enrolled in Florida’s Medicaid program saw a decline, with 4.423 million people receiving healthcare through the system as reported on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. This was lower than the 4.459 million reported in April and marked a continued decline that began in spring 2023 following the end of a federal public health emergency declared during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the public health emergency, Washington agreed to cover more of the costs associated with Florida’s Medicaid program. As part of this agreement, states were not allowed to remove people from the program’s rolls. Florida’s program saw an increase from about 3.8 million beneficiaries in January 2020 to nearly 5.78 million in April 2023 due to this extra funding.
However, with the end of the emergency, Florida began a process to reassess the eligibility of individuals in the program, which led to a decrease in enrollment numbers. This process has resulted in a class-action lawsuit alleging that the state did not adequately inform beneficiaries before removing them from the program.
