The Florida Healthy Kids Corp. Board of Directors has approved contracts for three insurance companies to provide coverage in the Florida Healthy Kids program, which serves children ages five through 18.
Effective Jan. 1, two health plans, Aetna Better Health of Florida and Simply Healthcare Plans, will provide coverage in all 67 counties.
Community Care Plan, which is jointly owned by the North Broward and South Broward hospital districts, will be available to families in Indian River, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
Florida Healthy Kids currently provides subsidized coverage to 193,000 children and non-subsidized, or “full-pay,” coverage to 15,500 children. To qualify for subsidized coverage, a child must live in a family with an income between 133 and 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $33,383 to $50,200 for a family of four.
Children who live in families that exceed that income range can qualify for the full-pay program.
Participants in the subsidized plan pay $15 or $20 per month, based on household income. Costs in the full-pay program are $215 per month per child for health-only coverage and $230 per month per child for health and dental coverage.
According to a news release Monday from Florida Healthy Kids, the new contracts require the plans to offer access to 24-hour nurse and behavioral health lines, tobacco, vaping and substance-use cessation programs, swim lessons and weight management tools.
The new contracts also mean some families will have to change health plans. For instance, families in the subsidized portion of the program can currently choose between Aetna, Simply, UnitedHealthcare of Florida, and Staywell, depending on where they live. Children in the full-pay program currently have access only to Sunshine Health Plan.
