Department of Children & Families

Disability Rights Florida claims in its lawsuit that the data would help in monitoring psychiatric hospitals. The organization says it did not receive the information after making a public records request.

The federal program offers disaster flexibilities that can make it easier for people to sign up for coverage and get treatments faster. A coalition of health and labor groups want the state to take full advantage.

In response to the report, a DCF official says the state's outreach strategy went "above and beyond" federal requirements and "any notion that Florida has failed in this process is false."

The decision does not end the case, as the revised lawsuit with additional plaintiffs will continue. But it will push back consideration of an injunction and class certification.

Florida is halfway through its Medicaid unwinding process, and thousands of children have lost coverage. The state doesn't know how those kids are receiving care.

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction that would require reinstating coverage to people and ending additional terminations until adequate information is provided.

The pandemic forced states to not kick anyone off the Medicaid rolls. That ended in April. But many of those booted from the program now scramble to retain their eligibility.

States must remove people from the program whose incomes are too high. Some recipients in Florida and other states that have started the process say they've been mistakenly removed.

The Baker Act is a state law that allows courts, law enforcement officers, and certain medical workers to order people who could be a harm to themselves or others to be taken to facilities for up to 72 hours.

Last year, there were 98 deaths, up from 69 in 2020, according to DCF. The agency says Florida "loses more children under the age of 5 to drowning than any other state in the nation."