MIAMI (AP) — A class-action lawsuit alleging that more than 1.7 million Florida children on Medicaid are not receiving critical medical care has resumed in federal court.
State health official Beth Kidder testified this week that children are getting adequate care. That comes after her 2008 deposition in which she said there were critical problems for patients accessing specialty doctors.
The lawsuit was filed in 2005 on behalf of Floridians under 21 who now or in the future would be eligible for Medicaid. The trial has dragged on for two years.
Lawyers representing the children say reimbursement rates are so low that patients struggle to find doctors accepting Medicaid.
The state has spent about $4.6 million defending the case.
A 12-year-old boy named in the lawsuit died six weeks ago.
Source: Kelli Kennedy – AP
