HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 121 Florida Kidcare Program Eligibility
SPONSOR(S): Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee, Bartleman,
Trabulsy and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 246
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee 17 Y, 0 N, As CS Calamas McElroy
2) Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee 13 Y, 0 N, As CS Smith Clark
3) Health & Human Services Committee 20 Y, 0 N Calamas Calamas
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The Florida Kidcare Program implements the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Florida.
The CHIP provides federal matching funds to states to subsidize health insurance coverage for children in
families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid and meet other eligibility requirements.
Kidcare is governed by part II of ch. 409, F.S., and is administered jointly by the Agency for Health Care
Administration (AHCA), the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Health (DOH), and
the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (Corporation) established in ch. 624, F.S.
Eligibility for the CHIP-funded program components of Kidcare is determined by household annual income, and
set as a factor of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Children in families with incomes up to 200% FPL are
currently eligible for CHIP-subsidized coverage.
Families enrolled in CHIP-subsidized Kidcare programs pay a monthly, per-household premium of $15 or $20,
depending on income level.
CS/CS/HB 121 increases eligibility for CHIP-subsidized Kidcare programs to 300% FPL. The bill requires the
Corporation to establish new monthly premiums for enrollees in households over 150% FPL. The Corporation
must establish the new premiums in at least three, but no more than six, income-based tiers.
The bill has a fiscal impact to state government of $9.9 million from the General Revenue Fund to support
additional eligible children and also increases the Medical Care Trust Fund with federal funds of approximately
$24.7 million. The bill has no impact on local governments. See Fiscal Analysis.
The bill provides an effective date of January 1, 2024.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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 FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Florida Kidcare Program
The Florida Kidcare Program (Kidcare or Program) was created by the Florida Legislature in 1998 in
response to the passage of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997. 1 The CHIP
provides federal funding to states to provide subsidized health insurance coverage to uninsured
children in families with incomes that are too high to qualify for Medicaid but who meet other eligibility
requirements. When created, CHIP was initially authorized and allotted funding for 10 years. However,
due the program’s capped funding structure, the federal government has had to repeatedly reauthorize
and extend funding.2 Most recently, the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act extended federal funding
for CHIP through fiscal year 2029.3
Kidcare encompasses four programs.
1. Medicaid for children
2. The Medikids program
3. The Children’s Medical Services Network (for children with special needs)
4. The Florida Healthy Kids program
Kidcare is governed by part II of ch. 409, F.S., and is administered jointly by the Agency for Health Care
Administration (AHCA), the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Department of Health
(DOH), and the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (Corporation) established in ch. 624, F.S. The chart
below delineates the roles of each agency and the Corporation.
State Agency Responsibilities
 Administers the Medicaid program (Title XIX)
 Administers the MediKids program (Title XXI, ages 1-4)
Agency for Health Care  Serves as lead Title XXI contact with the federal Centers for Medicare
Administration (AHCA) and Medicaid Services
(MediKids)  Distributes federal funds for Title XXI programs
 Manages the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation contract
 Develops and maintains the Title XXI Florida Kidcare State Plan
Department of Children
 Determines Medicaid (Title XIX) eligibility
and Families (DCF)
 Administers the CMS Behavioral Health Network (Title XXI, ages 0-18)
(Medicaid for Children)
Department of Health
 Administers Children’s Medical Services (Titles XIX and XXI, ages 0-
(Children’s Medical
18 with special health care needs)
Services)
Florida Healthy Kids  Performs administrative functions for Florida Kidcare (eligibility
Corporation determination, premium collection, marketing, and customer service)
(Healthy Kids)  Administers Florida Healthy Kids program (Title XXI, ages 5-18)
Funding
1
CHIP w as created as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97, Pub. L. No. 105.33, s. 4901).
2
The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA, Pub. L. No. 111–3, s.101) reauthorized CHIP through fiscal year (FY)
2013, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, (ACA, Pub. L. No. 111–148, s. 10203) extended CHIP funding through FY 2015, the
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (Pub. L. No. 114–10, s. 301) extended funding through FY 2017, the Healthy Kids Act extended
funding to FY 2023 (Pub. L. No. 115-120, s. 3002), and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, (Pub. L. No. 115-123, s. 50101) extended funding for CHIP
through 2023 .
3
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Pub. L. No. 117-328, s. 5111.
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 Kidcare coverage is funded by state and federal funds through Title XIX (Medicaid) and Title XXI
(CHIP) of the federal Social Security Act. The federal government provides matching funds for state
expenditures, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). The Medicaid (Title XIX)
FMAP is approximately 60%, meaning the federal government pays 60% of service costs, while the
state pays 40%. The CHIP (Title XXI) has a higher FMAP, at approximately 72%; the state pays 28%. 4
The following chart summarizes funding by eligibility category for the programs within Kidcare. 5
Eligibility and Cost-Sharing
Eligibility is determined in part by age and household income, as a percent of the Federal Poverty Level
(FPL), as indicated by the table below.
Family Income Eligibility Monthly Copay
Program Ages
FPL Threshold Annual Income 6 Premium (some services)
Medicaid for
0-1 185-200% FPL $55,500-$60,000 $0 $0
Children
Medikids 1-4 133-200% FPL $41,400-$60,000 $15 Up to $10
for 133-158% FPL
5 133-200% FPL $41,400-$60,000 Up to $10
Healthy Kids $20
6-18 100-200% FPL $30,00-$60,000 for 158-200% FPL Up to $10
Children’s
0-18 Up to 200% FPL $0-$60,000 (per household) $0
Medical Services
Full-Pay $210 - Medikids
(Medikids & 1-18 Over 200% FPL Over $60,000 $259 - Healthy Kids $10 or $15
Healthy Kids)
(per child)
Families contribute to the monthly premium cost of the coverage under the Title XXI-funded (CHIP)
components of Kidcare based on their household size, income, and other eligibility factors, although
current law does not specify using the per-household approach. Household monthly premiums are $15
4
Both program FMAPs temporarily increased as a result of time-limited pandemic funding: 6.2% in Medicaid; and 4.34% in the CHIP. The increased
FMAPs w ill phase out quarterly in 2023. See, infra, note 10.
5
Institute for Child Health Policy at University of Florida, Florida Kidcare Program Evaluation 2015, available at
https://w eb.archive.org/web/20221108221838/https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/Policy_and_Quality/Policy/program_policy/FLKidcare/PDF/2015_Flori
da_Kidcare_Evaluation_Report.pdf (last view ed March 20, 2023).
6
Based on a family of four.
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 or $20, depending on income level, as indicated by the table above. Similarly, nominal service copays
are also based on income level, as indicated by the table above. The premium does not vary by the
number of children in the household.
Currently, these limited premium and copay ranges reflect the only income-based tiers for enrollee
cost-sharing in the subsidized Kidcare programs.
For families with incomes above the income limits for monthly premium assistance, Kidcare also offers
an option under the Healthy Kids component (ages 5-18) and the Medikids component (ages 1-4) for
the family to obtain coverage for their children by paying the full premium. This “Full-Pay” program
premium for Healthy Kids is $259 a month, or $3,114 annually, and the Full-Pay program requires a $5
or $10 copay for some services.7 Currently, nearly 25,000 children are in Full-Pay program (3,312 in
Medikids and over 21,000 in Healthy Kids).
The increase from a $20 household-wide premium to a $259 per-child premium may be triggered by a
much lesser increase in income. For example, an income increase equating to 1% of the federal
poverty level is a $300 annual income increase (for a family of four). This small increase can move a
family from subsidized eligibility to Full-Pay eligibility, resulting in an increased annual coverage cost of
$5,748 (assuming the family of four has 2 children). This may cause a family to drop child coverage, or
limit coverage to the most medically needy child.
Enrollment
As of January, 117,092 children are enrolled in Kidcare. 8 Most of those children (80,258) are enrolled in
Healthy Kids (the Title XXI CHIP-subsidized program); 21,424 children are in the Full-Pay program.9
Caseload growth in Kidcare is generally 2-3 percent per year; however, Fiscal Year 2023-2024
projections assume that Medicaid redeterminations, 10 which will begin in April 2023, will cause a
76.54% caseload growth in the Title XXI-funded (CHIP) part of program that year, as indicated by the
graph below.11
7
While s. 409.814(7), F.S., requires Full-Pay enrollees to pay the entire cost of the premium, including administrative costs, in 2019 the legislature
began subsidizing those costs through the General Appropriation Act, to reduce significant premium increases caused by a shr inking risk pool. See,
Fiscal Year 2019-2020 General Appropriation Act Specific Appropriation 178, Ch. 2019-115 Law s of Florida.
8
Social Services Estimating Conference, Florida Kidcare Caseloads, Feb. 13, 2023.
9
AHCA 2023 Agency Legislative Bill Analysis, HB 121, dated Jan. 10, 2023.
10
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided an enhanced federal matching rate of 6.2 perc entage points for
states during the COVID pandemic. The enhanced rate w as conditioned on states agreeing to provide continuous eligibility through the end of the
federally declared public health emergency. Under that requirement, Medicaid eligibility has not been review ed since March, 2020, meaning there may
be many enrollees w ho no longer meet the income eligibility requirements for the program. This contributed to a 1.8 million increase in enrollment since
2020. The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 ended the continuous coverage policy effective April 1, 2023, and established a quarterly
reduction in the enhanced match rate through December 2023. See, Medicaid Redetermination, AHCA and DCF presentation in the Health and Human
Services Committee, Jan. 18, 2023.
11
While many families no longer eligible may no longer need health coverage, many may be at income levels too high for Medicaid but too low for other
forms of coverage. These families may enroll their children in Kidcare, resulting in this increased enrollment in FY 2023-2024. The graph also notes the
sudden decline in CHIP enrollment starting in Spring 2020, coinciding w ith the beginning of the pandemic. Many of those CHIP families may have
experienced a decline in income at that time and become eligible for Medicaid; the redetermination process may shift those families back to CHIP.
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 In 2021,12 327,200 children in Florida were uninsured. Of those, 163,700 are in families with income
levels below 200% of the federal poverty level; that is, they were eligible for coverage under Kidcare (or
regular Medicaid).13
Of the uninsured children in Florida, 42,073 children are in families with income levels between 200%
and 300% of the federal poverty level. These children are not currently eligible for (subsidized) Kidcare
coverage, but are eligible for the Full-Pay option.
Effect of Proposed Changes
CS/CS/HB 121 expands eligibility for CHIP-funded Kidcare programs to children in families with
household incomes up to 300% FPL from the current 200% FPL threshold. In addition, the bill
authorizes the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation and AHCA to establish new premium tiers for enrollees
above 150% FPL, including the new expansion group.
Eligibility
The bill raises the eligibility income threshold for the CHIP-funded Medikids, Healthy Kids, and
Children’s Medical Services programs, all currently capped at 200% FPL, to 300% FPL. The bill limits
an applicant-family’s obligation to provide specific documentation during the eligibility determination
process to only those instances when eligibility cannot be verified using reliable data in accordance
with federal requirements.
Subsidized Enrollment Impact
Assuming the higher threshold attracts more families to the subsidized program, the bill could increas e
CHIP-subsidized Kidcare enrollment compared to current projections. In addition, the Medicaid
redetermination process 14 will likely increase enrollment in CHIP-subsidized Kidcare, as current
Medicaid enrollees with income levels too high for Medicaid disenroll and look for other coverage
options.
Full-Pay Enrollment Impact
Currently 24,736 children are in the Full-Pay program, all with household incomes higher than 200%
FPL. The Corporation estimates 8,610 of these children (7,617 in Healthy Kids and 993 in Medikids)
have household incomes under the expansion threshold of 300% FPL. 15 Under the bill, children in this
group would automatically move from Full-Pay to subsidized status, on the effective date of the
applicable household income level. This will have a negative fiscal impact on the state and federal
governments.
The Medicaid redetermination process is already projected to increase enrollment in Full-Pay, as
current Medicaid enrollees with income levels too high for Medicaid and too high for CHIP-subsidized
Kidcare disenroll and look for other coverage options. The Corporation estimates 16,328 children with
household incomes under 300% FPL will enroll in Full-Pay Kidcare in Fiscal Year 2023-2024.16
Cost-Sharing
The bill also amends the structure of household premiums for CHIP-subsidized Kidcare. Currently, the
premium is $15 a month, per household, for households with incomes 133-158% FPL, and $20, per
household, for households with incomes 158-200% FPL. Current law caps premiums for households
with incomes 150%-200%