• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Florida Tries Again to End Decade-Old Lawsuit Calling State’s Children’s Health Care Inadequate

October 27, 2014 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Florida wants to put a happy face on its Medicaid coverage of children's health.
Florida wants to put a happy face on its Medicaid coverage of children’s health.

Pointing to a new managed-care system and changes stemming from the Affordable Care Act, attorneys for the state are asking a federal judge to dig back into whether Florida properly provides care to children in the Medicaid program.


The Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Families last week filed court documents asking federal judge Adalberto Jordan to consider new evidence in a nearly decade-old case that centers on the adequacy of care provided to low-income children through Medicaid.

Jordan has not ruled in the case, which was filed in 2005 and has been spearheaded by the Florida Pediatric Society. But the court documents filed last week indicate that Jordan could issue his findings soon.

In two motions filed Thursday, the state agencies contend that the Medicaid program has undergone significant changes since evidence was presented in 2012. In part, that is because the state this year finished putting in place a new system that requires almost all Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in HMOs or other types of managed-care plans.

In one of the motions, the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Health argued that managed-care plans are required to have adequate networks of physicians and other types of service providers.

In the past, a longstanding complaint about the Medicaid program was that beneficiaries often had problems finding health-care providers, such as specialists, who would treat them. A key issue in the lawsuit is whether care has been hampered by low Medicaid payment rates to physicians.

“Since the trial there have been a multitude of significant changes to the Florida Medicaid service delivery system that affect the issues in this case, and that render the existing record on liability stale,” attorneys for the two agencies wrote in the motion.

But in July, Jordan rejected a request by the state to declare the case moot — a request that focused, in part, on the shift to statewide managed care. At the time, Jordan wrote that the managed-care system would not be in “full swing” until Oct. 1.

“At this time nobody knows whether or not the new managed care system will alleviate or solve the issues that the plaintiffs have been complaining about for years,” Jordan wrote. “Without a developed factual record on how the managed care system is working (or not working), it is impossible to declare any part of this case moot.”

The new motion by AHCA and the Department of Health asked that the case be reopened to provide more evidence, not that the case be determined moot.

But the Department of Children and Families raised the possibility that part of the lawsuit could be declared moot. That part deals with the department’s determination of Medicaid eligibility for children.

The department cited a new computer system and other changes that were an outgrowth of the federal Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. While Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-controlled Legislature opposed the controversial health law, the department said in last week’s motion that the state has made important changes in how Medicaid eligibility determinations are performed and that the changes were “driven largely” by the federal measure.

–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Pierre Tristam on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 2, 2025
  • Bo Peep on Flagler County Will Buy 5.2-Acre Parcel on Intracoastal North of Hammock Dune Bridge for Preservation as Parkland
  • T on Palm Coast’s Fire, Parks and Road Impact Fees Are About to Jump 90 to 160% as City Capitalizes Future on Development
  • Alice on GOP Bill Would Kick More Than 3 Million Off Food Stamps and Shift $14 Billion In Costs to States
  • Bill Boots on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 2, 2025
  • Joe D on Why Your Electricity Bill Is So High
  • Ben Hogarth on GOP Bill Would Kick More Than 3 Million Off Food Stamps and Shift $14 Billion In Costs to States
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 1, 2025
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 2, 2025
  • Laurel on American Doctors Are Escaping to Canada. Guess Why.
  • Dennis C Rathsam on Why Your Electricity Bill Is So High
  • Al on GOP Bill Would Kick More Than 3 Million Off Food Stamps and Shift $14 Billion In Costs to States
  • Deborah Coffey on Why Your Electricity Bill Is So High
  • Pogo on Why Your Electricity Bill Is So High
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 2, 2025
  • Dennis C Rathsam on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 2, 2025

Log in