Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2142
       
       
       
       By Senator Lawson
       
       
       
       
       6-01384-10                                            20102142__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to Medicaid postpartum benefits;
    3         amending s. 409.903, F.S.; providing for continuation
    4         of Medicaid coverage for women eligible for prenatal
    5         care benefits under certain circumstances and for a
    6         specified period postpartum; requiring the Agency for
    7         Health Care Administration to electronically enroll
    8         eligible women; authorizing the agency to seek waiver
    9         authority; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 409.903, Florida
   14  Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         409.903 Mandatory payments for eligible persons.—The agency
   16  shall make payments for medical assistance and related services
   17  on behalf of the following persons who the department, or the
   18  Social Security Administration by contract with the Department
   19  of Children and Family Services, determines to be eligible,
   20  subject to the income, assets, and categorical eligibility tests
   21  set forth in federal and state law. Payment on behalf of these
   22  Medicaid eligible persons is subject to the availability of
   23  moneys and any limitations established by the General
   24  Appropriations Act or chapter 216.
   25         (5)(a) A pregnant woman for the duration of her pregnancy
   26  and for the postpartum period as defined in federal law and
   27  rule, or a child under age 1, if either is living in a family
   28  that has an income which is at or below 150 percent of the most
   29  current federal poverty level, or, effective January 1, 1992,
   30  that has an income which is at or below 185 percent of the most
   31  current federal poverty level. Such a person is not subject to
   32  an assets test. Further, a pregnant woman who applies for
   33  eligibility for the Medicaid program through a qualified
   34  Medicaid provider must be offered the opportunity, subject to
   35  federal rules, to be made presumptively eligible for the
   36  Medicaid program.
   37         (b) Effective January 1, 2011, a woman who was eligible for
   38  Medicaid prenatal care benefits during pregnancy and who
   39  delivered a low birth weight or premature baby or who
   40  experienced a fetal death in the course of her most recent
   41  pregnancy. Such a woman is eligible for full Medicaid benefits
   42  for 2 years postpartum, including primary health care and family
   43  planning services. The agency shall electronically enroll a
   44  woman eligible under this paragraph for full Medicaid benefits
   45  on the date of the delivery of the low birth weight or premature
   46  baby or on the date of the fetal death. The agency may seek a
   47  Medicaid state plan amendment or federal waiver approval to
   48  implement this paragraph.
   49         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.