A federal judge ruled that Florida failed to provide adequate notice to Medicaid recipients before terminating their coverage during the post-pandemic unwinding process.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in August 2023, alleging that beneficiaries received confusing notices from the state’s Medicaid agency. The lawsuit said the notices were several pages long, included conflicting information from one section to another and did not clearly explain why coverage was ending or what steps could be taken to challenge the decision.
In a 273-page decision filed Jan. 6, U.S. District Judge Marcia Howard sided in favor of the class Florida Medicaid enrollees and said that the notices sent by the state to terminate benefits for financial reasons “border on the incomprehensible.”
“They are vague, confusing and often incorrect and misleading,” she said, adding that the notices are structured based on an internal logic that is indecipherable to a reader inexperienced with Medicaid and said even those who are well-versed in eligibility requirements “struggle at times to explain” their meaning.
The judge permanently enjoined Florida from terminating the family-related Medicaid benefits of any class member based on a finding of financial ineligibility unless the state provides written notice that clearly explains whose benefits are being terminated and the reasons why. The reasons must include sufficient case-specific information to allow the recipient to “allow the recipient to assess the accuracy of the state’s decision and decide whether to request a fair hearing.”
