Sometimes the right answer is free.
We earn nothing when we point a family to Medicaid or Florida KidCare. We do it several times a week anyway, because quoting a plan to someone who qualifies for a free programme is not advice, it is a sale.
The Florida coverage gap, said plainly
The Affordable Care Act assumed every state would widen Medicaid to cover adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Florida chose not to. Premium tax credits, meanwhile, start at 100% of that level. The result is a gap: adults who earn below 100%, and who are not covered by one of Florida's narrow Medicaid categories, may have no affordable route at all. It is not your mistake and it is not a paperwork error. It is a policy decision, and we will tell you plainly if you are in it.
Florida KidCare is wider than most people assume
KidCare is the state programme that covers children from birth to the end of age 18. It has several parts, including Medicaid for the lowest incomes and a subsidised tier where families pay a small monthly amount per family, not per child. Plenty of working households assume they earn too much and never apply. It costs nothing to check, and a child covered by KidCare while the parents take a Marketplace plan is an extremely common outcome in this office.
Who else Florida Medicaid still covers
- Pregnant women, at a considerably higher income limit than other adults.
- Children, through Medicaid or the subsidised parts of Florida KidCare.
- Parents and caretaker relatives of a dependent child, at a very low income limit.
- People who are aged 65 or over, blind, or living with a disability, through separate programmes.
- Former foster youth, up to age 26.
How we handle it on the call
We ask the household and income questions first, in that order. If the answers point to Medicaid or KidCare, we say so, we tell you exactly where to apply, and we stay on to answer questions about the form. If some of the household qualifies and some does not, which happens constantly, we do both halves in the same call.
Not sure which side of the line you are on?
That is the normal state of affairs. One call and we will sort it out with you.