Enrollment in Florida’s Medicaid program increased slightly in August, as a steep enrollment drop that started in spring 2023 appears to have ended.
Newly posted numbers on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website showed that 4,372,488 people were enrolled in the program in August, up from 4,363,848 in July and 4,363,948 in June.
The program had nearly 5.78 million beneficiaries in April 2023, but enrollment steadily decreased for more than a year after the end of a federal public-health emergency linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal and state governments, and Washington agreed to pick up more of the tab for the program as part of the public-health emergency, which was declared in January 2020.
But in exchange for the extra money, states had to agree that they wouldn’t drop people from the Medicaid rolls during the emergency. That led to major increases in enrollment during the emergency.
With the end of the emergency in spring 2023, the state started a process to determine whether people remained eligible, resulting in decreased enrollment.
The process led to a class-action lawsuit that alleges the state did not properly inform beneficiaries before dropping them from the program. U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard held a trial in the case this summer but has not ruled.
Florida Medicaid enrollment
Since the beginning of of the unwinding process in April 2023.
- April 2023: 5,778,536
- May 2023: 5,543,890
- June 2023: 5,427,530
- July 2023: 5,360,069
- August 2023: 5,254,460
- September 2023: 5,161,884
- October 2023: 5,105,874
- November 2023: 4,946,551
- December 2023: 4,866,692
- January 2024: 4,799,446
- February 2024: 4,806,358
- March 2024: 4,675,493
- April 2024: 4,459,353
- May 2024: 4,423,280
- June 2024: 4,363,948
- July 2024: 4,363,848
- August 2024: 4,372,488
