Appeals court upholds injunction over Florida Medicaid termination notices
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Florida's termination notices failed to adequately inform Medicaid recipients why they were being dropped from the program during the post-pandemic unwinding, upholding a permanent injunction issued by a federal district judge earlier this year. The appeals court, in a decision written by Judge Barbara Lagoa, agreed with the district court's finding after a six-day bench trial that the notices did not clearly communicate the termination decision, the reason for it, or to whom it applied. The case was brought by the National Health Law Program and Florida Health Justice Project on behalf of enrollees erroneously removed from Medicaid, focused on notices sent to children, parents, pregnant women, and former foster youth. It is unclear whether Florida will seek Supreme Court review, which would need to begin before Gov. DeSantis leaves office in January.