HB 569

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Florida KidCare program; amending
3	s. 409.8132, F.S.; providing for year-round enrollment in
4	the Medikids program component of the Florida KidCare
5	program; amending s. 409.8134, F.S.; providing for year-
6	round enrollment in the Florida KidCare program; providing
7	a time period for the validity of an application;
8	providing an effective date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1.  Subsection (7) of section 409.8132, Florida
13	Statutes, is amended to read:
14	409.8132  Medikids program component.--
15	(7)  ENROLLMENT.--Enrollment in the Medikids program
16	component may only occur at any time throughout the year during
17	periodic open enrollment periods as specified in s. 409.8134. A
18	child may not receive services under the Medikids program until
19	the child is enrolled in a managed care plan or MediPass. Once
20	determined eligible, an applicant may receive choice counseling
21	and select a managed care plan or MediPass. The agency may
22	initiate mandatory assignment for a Medikids applicant who has
23	not chosen a managed care plan or MediPass provider after the
24	applicant's voluntary choice period ends. An applicant may
25	select MediPass under the Medikids program component only in
26	counties that have fewer than two managed care plans available
27	to serve Medicaid recipients and only if the federal Health Care
28	Financing Administration determines that MediPass constitutes
29	"health insurance coverage" as defined in Title XXI of the
30	Social Security Act.
31	Section 2.  Subsection (2) of section 409.8134, Florida
32	Statutes, is amended to read:
33	409.8134  Program enrollment and expenditure ceilings.--
34	(2)  Upon a unanimous recommendation by representatives
35	from each of the four Florida KidCare administrators, The
36	Florida KidCare program may conduct an open enrollment at any
37	time throughout the year period for the purpose of enrolling
38	children eligible for all program components listed in s.
39	409.813 except Medicaid. The four Florida KidCare administrators
40	shall work together to ensure that the year-round open
41	enrollment period is announced statewide at least 1 month before
42	the open enrollment is to begin. Eligible children shall be
43	enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis using the date the
44	open enrollment application is received. The potential open
45	enrollment periods shall be January 1st through January 30th and
46	September 1st through September 30th. Open Enrollment shall
47	immediately cease when the enrollment ceiling is reached. Year-
48	round An open enrollment shall only be held if the Social
49	Services Estimating Conference determines that sufficient
50	federal and state funds will be available to finance the
51	increased enrollment through federal fiscal year 2007. Any
52	individual who is not enrolled, including those added to the
53	waiting list after March 11, 2004, must reapply by submitting a
54	new application during the next open enrollment period. The
55	application for the Florida KidCare program shall be valid for a
56	period of 120 days after the date it was received. At the end of
57	the 120-day period, if the applicant has not been enrolled in
58	the program, the application shall be invalid and the applicant
59	shall be notified of the action. The applicant may resubmit the
60	application after notification of the action taken by the
61	program. However, the Children's Medical Services Network may
62	annually enroll up to 120 additional children based on emergency
63	disability criteria outside of the open enrollment periods, and
64	the cost of serving these children must be managed within the
65	KidCare program's appropriated or authorized levels of funding.
66	Except for the Medicaid program, whenever the Social Services
67	Estimating Conference determines that there are is presently, or
68	will be by the end of the current fiscal year, insufficient
69	funds to finance the current or projected enrollment in the
70	Florida KidCare program, all additional enrollment must cease
71	and additional enrollment may not resume until sufficient funds
72	are available to finance such enrollment.
73	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.