Reader question:

How do I apply for KidCare child health insurance in Florida?

Louis

Glad you asked.

If you have looked over the requirements for being able to receive child health insurance through KidCare, and you feel that your child meets those requirements, or you want to give it a shot just in case, then you can go ahead and fill out an application for KidCare child health insurance. Remember that your kid might be able to get KidCare even if they are not a citizen of the United States, and that if you have been turned down for Medicaid, you might be eligible for different KidCare insurance. Here’s what to do if you’re child isn’t a citizen of the U.S and you’re applying for their health insurance.

• Get some copies! You need copies of the following forms.
  • Arrival or departure record, also known as form I-94
  • Passport that has the immigration status on it and has been stamped by the INS
  • Your authorization of travel form, also known as I-571
  • Your show of status–be it a resident card, green card, or resident alien card
  • Application for asylum
  • Something like a letter for a judge or a Laissez-Passer that proves the child’s immigration status
• Then you just clip these paper’s to the application for KidCare, make sure your and the other parent’s name are on there, and send it in!

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

Me and my kids aren’t citizens of the United States, but we’re living here legally and I’m not able to afford health insurance for us. Am I able to provide them with health care through Florida’s KidCare child health insurance?

Emilie

Maybe so.

For people who aren’t citizens of the United States, the path to getting state sponsored health insurance for their children might be even more difficult than for other people. There are several extra requirements that determine whether or not the child fits into a certain group that makes it to where they are able to receive this help from the state. For the most part, in order to get KidCare, you have to be a citizen. But there are a few children who can still get it even if they weren’t born in the U.S. They’re called ‘qualified aliens’.

People who are legally residing in the U.S. but aren’t citizens might be eligible for Florida child health insurance if they fit the following criteria.

• Are Ameriasians.
• Come from Haiti or Cuba
• Are refugees and have received certification from the Office of Refugee Resettlement for being trafficking victims
• Are the children of someone who is in the military or is a veteran of it
• Kids who have resided legal as residents for at least five years
• People in asylum, here as refugees, or who have had their removal withheld.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

I’m an American Indian living in Florida. Are my children eligible for KidCare Florida health insurance?

Sam

It depends.

If you are a Native American, then it will still depend on your income and other eligibility requirements to determine whether or not your children are able to get KidCare Florida health insurance, such as determining whether or not your child is provided with health care insurance through your employer. If you otherwise meet the eligibility rules, then your children probably will be able to get insured through KidCare child health insurance.

The great thing about getting KidCare child health insurance if you are an American Indian is that it has pretty much no cost. Unlike other KidCare recipients, who must pay a monthly premium as well as some co-payments and fees for doctor visits and prescriptions, if you are an American Indian the service is entirely free, with no monthly charge nor co-payments. Call the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to find out if your child is eligible.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

I’m a worried grandmother whose granddaughter has been getting sick a lot lately, but her parents don’t have the money for health insurance nor do they have the money to take her to the doctor. What can I, as a grandparent, do?

Millie

I’m glad you asked.

You would be surprised by how much exactly a grandparent can do, because according to state laws in Florida, they are not entirely without rights as concerns their grandchildren. It may be true that a grandparent is not allowed to apply for health insurance for a child, even when that child does not have child health insurance or any real way of getting it, but there are still some things that the grandparent can do.

According to Florida Statute Chapter 743.0645, you have the right to get health care on the behalf of your grandchild. This means that you can take your granddaughter to the emergency room or the doctor’s office, and can consent to major things. This right only comes, though, after the doctor on duty has tried many times to get in tough with the parent, and the parent has also not declared that the child can not be treated in such a way.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

My grandson doesn’t have Florida health insurance, and it really worries me. I know about Florida child health insurance programs like KidCare. Am I able to apply for the insurance for him?

Luther

Unfortunately, no.

It’s naturally to care and be worried about your grandkids when you are a grandparent. That’s just how love works. It is even more worrisome when you see that your grandchildren are so vulnerable to a health disaster and might not be getting proper care, and their parents are either unable or unwilling to get this care for them. As a grandparent, this will make you desire more than anything to fix this problem, but because you do not have custody of the children, your rights are restricted.

That doesn’t mean that there’s nothing that you can do, though. Being a grandparent, you are able to look up information about the child health insurance programs in the state of Florida so that you can find out what can be done for the child. While you can’t apply, you can discuss your findings with the parents, and even have an application for child health insurance sent to them in the mail.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

I take care of my granddaughter, and it’s hard enough to support the both of us while I’m getting on in years. How can I get Florida health insurance for her?

Glenda

Great question.

When you have a grandchild that lives with you in your home in Florida, they are likely to be able to get KidCare Florida health insurance, even if you are not their legal guardian. A lot of times, the parent’s income will come into play to determine the eligibility, but if you are the legal guarding, then it will be your own income.

If you are going to apply for Florida health insurance for your child, then they do have to be living in your home with you, but it is not necessary to reveal for how long. Even if they have only been living with you for a week, you might still be eligible for KidCare child health insurance, so that you don’t have to worry about the little one you’re taking care of being uninsured.

Reader question:

How much does KidCare Florida health insurance cost?

Jackson

Good question.

It’s important to understand that the KidCare child health insurance program is not free, so it needs to be budgeted for low income families just like any other bill would. All the same, it does cost quite a bit less than most child health insurance plans, and so even though there will be a certain fee for the plan, it can also be understood that the parent will be saving a ton of money and most will find themselves able to afford it.

If you get the Medicaid version of KidCare, it is completely free, but this is the most difficult one to get because it has the strictest income requirements, and many people who are not eligible are still not able to afford Florida health insurance, which is where the rest of the KidCare child health insurance plans come into play.

These programs require an up front payment which is reimbursed if your kid is not accepted into the program. For the most part, the cost is very little, about fifteen or twenty dollars every month for the average Florida household. The maximum that you can pay is seventy dollars, so you can’t be charged more than that regardless of how many kids you have. Under seventy dollars, your payment falls somewhere within that range based on how many children you have and how many incomes you have in the house.

Not everything is completely covered by KidCare child health insurance. However, you won’t be paying a lot like with many medical health insurance companies. The most you will have to pay for some things are minimal co-payments and fees, which don’t add up to much.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

If you find that you meet the eligibility standards of KidCare’s Florida health insurance program, then it’s time to get the ball rolling and apply to get medical health insurance coverage for your child. Before you join this system of medical health insurance in Florida, though, you need to know what to bring with you so that you can make the process as expedient as possible.

• Other ability to receive medical health insurance. When you’re applying for KidCare Florida health insurance for your child, they will ask if your child is able to receive health insurance through other channels, such as on the employer health insurance plan that a parent has. Your kid might not be covered at the moment, but if they are allowed to be covered it must be revealed, as well as what the expense of that would be so that the state can determine whether it is too much for your income level.
• Pre-existing health conditions. This is the information that all medical health insurance companies demand the most, and KidCare Florida health insurance is no different from the rest. Kids who have these can still get KidCare, but it is especially important to reveal it if you have medical health insurance through your company, so that it can be seen why your child cannot get medical health insurance with them.
• Unhappily, you don’t get to get KidCare Florida health insurance for your child just because you decided to drop the kid off of your employer’s policy. If the child was terminated from the policy by your own will six months before your application to KidCare, as well as Medicaid and other state health care programs, they won’t be eligible.

Those are the requirements for KidCare Florida health insurance, and while they may see strict to some, they are much more forgiving than the requirements for many regular private health insurance plans. These standards apply only to KidCare. There may be some overlap with Medicaid, but it cannot be assumed that the requirements for Medicaid are the same.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

I live in Florida and I need Florida health insurance for my three children. How do I know if I qualify?

Annie

Glad you asked, Annie.

All states offer Medicaid, but there are many people who don’t qualify for it, but at the same time are unable to afford regular private medical health insurance. One way to get the children of these people covered by child health insurance is to apply for the Florida health insurance KidCare program, which does have income requirements, but is for the next income level up of people who don’t qualify for Medicaid.

There are several requirements that need to be met by a child before they can be provided with Florida health insurance in the KidCare plan.

• Age. For a child to get Florida health insurance via KidCare, they have to be less than nineteen years old. This applies even if the kid is still a dependent of their parents or attending college. Coverage ends at nineteen.
• Lack insurance. It’s not possible, if a child is covered by their parent’s employer Florida health insurance, to qualify for KidCare, even if the coverage they have is limited. A child must not have any other health insurance in order to get KidCare Florida health insurance.
• Income level. There is a certain top level of income under which the parents’ level of income must be before their child can qualify for KidCare Florida health insurance. This is more than the requirement for Medicaid.
• Citizenship. The applicant does not absolutely have to be a citizen of the United States, but if they are not, then they must fall into a certain category of non citizens in order to be eligible for health insurance through the state.
• Cannot be the child of someone who works for the state and is able to get health insurance through the state.
• Is not in a public institution.

These many requirements do leave many people out in terms of being able to afford Florida health insurance for their children, but it does a good job, for the most part, of covering the gap between those who can get Medicaid and those who can pay for their own medical health insurance.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Reader question:

I need Georgia health insurance for my three year old daughter. Is this available in my state?

Amber

Great question.

All states, of course, have Medicaid, which is a federal program, but naturally Medicaid does not cover everybody who needs health insurance. Although the income requirements for it are a little more loose than for other welfare programs, there are many people who make too much to qualify, but at the same time make too little to get a family health insurance plan with their own money. These people are locked in a dilemma, because they need to get child health insurance for their kids, as well as for themselves.

Georgia health insurance offers the PeachCare program for child health insurance to cover those kids whose parents make too much to be able to get Medicaid. This comes with coverage as extensive as that of Medicaid itself, from things like hospital stays and emergency room visits, to things like prescriptions and eyeglasses and dental appointments. It provides basically everything you need to protect your child’s health throughout his or her lifetime with this Georgia health insurance plan.

It isn’t free, though, but it is a whole lot cheaper than normal child health insurance. Every month there is a cost of about ten to thirty five dollars for each child over the age of five. There is a maximum cost of seventy dollars per month, per family, though, so if you have five children over five you won’t be paying that total. To find out more about this kind of Georgia health insurance, you can go to the state’s PeachCare website for more information.

One of the drawbacks is that, unlike most health insurance plans, which will cover a child until he or she has completed college, PeachCare ends once the child reaches the age of nineteen, whether they are still going to school or not.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.