• Children's Medicaid serves children from birth through age 18 from income-eligible families. Infants in families with earnings between 185% and 200% of the federal poverty level are financed with CHIP funds; other age groups and income levels are financed by Medicaid funds. This Florida KidCare component is administered by the Agency for Health Care Administration. Eligibility determination is conducted by the Department of Children and Families or the Social Security Administration. There are no premium or co-payment requirements under Children's Medicaid. CHIP funds are used to finance Children's Medicaid recipients in families.
• MediKids serves children ages 1 through 4. This Florida KidCare component is financed by CHIP funds and is administered by the Agency for Health Care Administration. Eligibility determination and premium collection are conducted by the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation. Families pay a monthly premium of no more than $20 depending on income, and there are no co-payment requirements under MediKids.
• Florida Healthy Kids serves children ages 5 through 18 who are not Medicaid eligible. This program component is financed by CHIP, general revenue, and local funds, as well as by families that pay the full premium amount. The Florida Healthy Kids Corporation administers this program component and is governed by a board of directors representing each Florida KidCare component, including the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Healthcare administration, the Department of Health, and the Department of Financial Services. Premiums and co-payments are required under Healthy Kids. For children in most families with incomes between 133% and 200% of the federal poverty level coverage costs no more than $20 a month. Families with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level, or those with children who have been legal permanent residents for less than five years, pay the entire premium amount, or what is referred to as the full-pay monthly premium.
• Children's Medical Services operates the CMS Managed Care Plan, a statewide specialty plan for children from birth to 21 years of age who have serious and chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions. Children who are clinically eligible can choose the CMS Network as a benefit plan option if they meet income eligibility requirements for Medicaid or CHIP. This component of Florida KidCare is financed by Medicaid, CHIP, and general revenue funds. Financial eligibility determination is conducted either by the Department of Children and Families (Medicaid) or the Healthy Kids Corporation. The Healthy Kids Corporation collects premium payments for the CHIP component. Clinical eligibility for the program is determined by the Department of Health or upon receipt of a treating physician's attestation for clinical eligibility. Behavioral health eligibility is determined by the Department of Children and Families which also administers the behavioral health network component of Children's Medical Services. Premiums are required for CHIP-funded enrollees, but there are no co-payment requirements.

In Fiscal Year 2020-21, 2,493,352 children were enrolled in KidCare.

For Fiscal Year 2020-21, 94.63% of families enrolled in Florida KidCare reported they were satisfied with the care provided under the program, a satisfaction level just below the agency's 95% satisfaction goal. In addition, 94.0% of all KidCare eligible enrollees successfully renewed KidCare coverage, above the approved standard of 90.0%.

In its December 2020 report on Florida Kidcare, researchers at the Institute for Child Health Policy found that in Calendar Year 2019, the MediKids program component scored favorably in the supplemental questions regarding children with chronic conditions. While 83% of Florida KidCare families stated that it was easy to get needed care, 90% indicated they were able to get that care as soon as needed. Most (95%) families felt that their child’s physician communicated well with them, and 88% of families reported positive experiences with their health plan customer service. Most Florida KidCare families (75%) rated their personal doctor, as well as the specialist seen most often, as a '9' or '10'.  When rating their overall experiences, 73% of the Florida KidCare Families rated their health care as a '9' or '10,' and 69% rated their health plan experience as '9' or '10.' 

Florida KidCare is funded through federal and state revenues. For Children's Medicaid, the federal share is funded through Title XIX of the Social Security Act; during Federal Fiscal Year 2021, Florida's match rate for Title XIX Medicaid would have been 61.96% except for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020. The act provides a temporary 6.2% increase to the FMAP for each calendar quarter beginning on the first day of the  public health emergency period and continues until the last day of the calendar quarter in which the emergency period occurs. Because the coronavirus was still a public health emergency after the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, the increase in funding to the FMAP will continue for any quarter during which the public health emergency is still in effect.

For Federal Fiscal year 2021, the total Federal match for Florida's CHIP is 68.16% federal funding to 31.84% state funding. The state also receives Title XXI (CHIP) funds to provide health care services for certain children not covered by Medicaid or through the non-Medicaid-funded components of Florida KidCare. Florida's Federal Fiscal Year 2021 match rate for Florida CHIP would have been 73.37% except for the Healthy Kids Act that enhanced the existing CHIP federal matching rate by 11.5% for the time period beginning October 1,2019, and ending September 30, 2020, and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020. Because the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 increase is calculated based on the Title XIX funding, the enhanced Title XXI is not as high as the Title XIX increase. The increase in funding raised Florida's CHIP for Federal Fiscal Year 2021 by another 3.26%. As a result, the total Federal match for Florida's CHIP is 76.63%. The Legislature does not authorize positions for the Florida KidCare Program. 

Refunds From Providers Not Achieving the Required 85% Medical Loss Ratio. The 2021 Legislature enacted Ch. 2021-41, Laws of Florida, which requires the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation to validate and calculate a refund amount for providers who do not achieve an 85% Medical Loss Ratio.

Other Reports
The Auditor General reports on agency operations are available on its website.

The Florida KidCare Program Evaluation Calendar Year 2019, University of Florida, Institute for Child Health Policy, December 2020.

Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Decline Suggests the Child Uninsured Rate May Rise Again, Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, May 2019.

The Children's Health Insurance Program, Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, February 2017.

Measuring and Improving Health Care Quality for Children in Medicaid and CHIP: A Primer for Child Health Stakeholders, Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, March 2016.

2017 Annual Report, Florida Healthy Kids Corporation.

What Would Happen if CHIP Went Away? Our Research Suggests Kids (for now) Would be Significantly Worse Off, Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, May 2014.

How Do Updated 2014 Federal Poverty Level Thresholds Impact Medicaid, CHIP & Premium Tax Credit Eligibility?, Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, February 2014.

2018 Annual Report, Florida Healthy Kids Corporation.

Medicaid/CHIP Participation Among Children and Parents, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Urban Institute, December 2012.

Websites of Interest
Florida Healthy Kids
Florida KidCare
KidCare Online Application
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Children's Health Insurance Program
Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid/CHIP
Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families

Performance Information

Florida KidCare, 1-888-540-5437

Website