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MEDICAID EXPANSION HELPS

Floridians with Disabilities

MORE PATHWAYS TO COVERAGE

  • Until the ACA, enrolling in SSI was the only way for millions of working-age Americans with disabilities to obtain the Medicaid coverage they needed.

The most a Floridian with a disability can earn in a year and qualify for Medicaid is $11,472 or 88% of the federal poverty level (Florida Policy Institute)

  • People with disabilities enrolled in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program get very modest cash benefits but have to keep earnings and assets low enough to keep Medicaid coverage. NOT ALL people with disabilities qualify for SSI. 

  • Nonelderly adults with disabilities who do not receive SSI WOULD QUALIFY for Medicaid based solely on their income if Florida accepted Medicaid expansion.

  • Nonelderly Medicaid adults with disabilities but not SSI still report serious functional limitations that can affect their health, making coverage important.

  • A majority (52%) of non-SSI Medicaid adults with disabilities report serious difficulty with cognitive functioning, and nearly half (46%) report serious difficulty with mobility.

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STRENGTHEN FL'S WORKFORCE

  • Reliable and affordable health insurance can allow people to work, even when they have disabling health conditions. If Florida wants to increase workforce participation, they should expand Medicaid eligibility — not restrict it.

  • Research from the Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living shows that employment rates for workers with disabilities rose in Medicaid expansion states (from 41.3 percent to 47.0 percent).

  • Currently just under three in 10 non-SSI Medicaid adults with disabilities are in the workforce, and having health insurance coverage can support their ability to work.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

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You can stand with our statewide coalition during the upcoming 2021 Florida legislative session.

We will ​​be mobilizing Florida's disabilities community to urge lawmakers to expand access to health care.

Join the coalition for the latest updates, invitations to coalition calls, and more!

  • Florida Voices for Health
  • Florida Voices for Health
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