Healthy Kids Press Contact,
Ashley Carr, Chief Marketing Officer,
(850) 701-6160, [email protected].
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The recently released Florida Healthy Kids Corporation Annual Report highlights Florida’s continued progress and innovation in expanding access to affordable, high quality health and dental insurance for all Florida children. The comprehensive report reveals a record high 3.8 million children in the state have health insurance with 2.4 million or 63 percent covered by the state-sponsored Florida KidCare program.
“Florida is a national model, and we continue to innovate,” said Rebecca Matthews, chief executive officer of the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation. “Backed by new data, we are strategically expanding our local outreach in communities with the most uninsured children. We just completed a series of focus groups to learn more, directly from families, about how to best meet their health insurance needs. And, in just a few weeks, we will launch a new, multi-channel marketing campaign that will reintroduce Florida KidCare statewide.”
The new report also recaps the results of recent policy changes, including the waiver of a previous policy requiring lawfully residing immigrant children to wait five years before enrolling in Florida KidCare. Within just the first six months of the policy change, 15,600 children were enrolled, and to date, more than 22,000 children, who would have previously been subject to the waiting period, are now insured.
For more information, view the Annual Report and visit www.healthykids.org.
###About Florida Healthy Kids Corporation
The Florida Healthy Kids Corporation is a nonprofit, public-private partnership created by the Florida Legislature to expand access to affordable, child-centered health insurance. The Corporation administers Florida Healthy Kids (healthykids.org), a comprehensive health and dental insurance program for Florida children from age 5 through the end of age 18. The Corporation also provides marketing, customer services and administrative services for Florida KidCare. This year, the Corporation is celebrating 25 years of insuring Florida’s children.
About Florida KidCare
Florida KidCare is the umbrella brand for the four government-sponsored health insurance programs – Medicaid, Florida Healthy Kids, MediKids, and Children’s Medical Services Managed Care Plan – that together provide a seamless continuum of coverage for Florida children from birth through the end of age 18. Benefits include doctor visits, check-ups, immunizations, prescriptions, emergency care, surgeries, dental care, and more. Most families pay nothing or as little as $15 or $20 per month. Full-pay options are available for those who do not qualify for subsidized coverage. Enrollment is open year-round at www.floridakidcare.org.
