FloridaHB 5301E2026EHouseWALLET

Health Care

Sponsored By: Robert Alexander "Alex" Andrade (Republican)

Signed by Governor

AppropriationHouse CalendarAppropriations -SJ 59

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

21 provisions identified: 15 benefits, 4 costs, 2 mixed.

Higher monthly payments for foster caregivers

Beginning July 1, 2026, monthly foster care room and board rates rise to $663.03 for ages 0–5. Rates are $680.01 for ages 6–12 and $795.94 for ages 13–21. Eligible recipients include foster parents, licensed level I child-specific caregivers, and qualifying Relative Caregiver Program participants. Rates receive January inflation adjustments, and ages 13–17 receive an additional monthly payment equal to 10% of their rate. Lead agencies and foster parents can agree to higher rates.

Higher internship payments for foster youth

Beginning July 1, 2026, Step into Success continues without its three-year pilot label. Current foster youth older than 16 and younger than 18 qualify through eligible licensed care. Former foster youth ages 18–25 qualify after at least 60 days in eligible Florida licensed care; specified level I placements do not count. Participants must finish workforce education before starting an internship. Former foster youth interns receive $1,717 monthly, up from $1,517, subject to available funds.

Medicaid navigation help for disabled residents

Florida establishes an Eligibility Assistance Program offering information, referrals, and help finding Medicaid and community services. It serves people with permanent physical or mental limitations that restrict daily activities and independent living without community services. A Florida tax-exempt nonprofit in good standing must operate the program and have at least 20 years of relevant experience. The operator must support phone and online access. Navigation help does not guarantee Medicaid eligibility.

Foster youth lose benefit-loss offset payments

Beginning July 1, 2026, Step into Success removes the extra stipend payment for benefits lost because of an internship stipend. This affects former foster youth whose benefits are reduced or lost because they receive the stipend. The separate rule excluding internship stipends from earned income for federal and state benefit eligibility remains in place.

More newborn screening and nutrition guidance

Beginning January 1, 2027, every Florida newborn must be screened for three additional disorders. They are Duchenne muscular dystrophy, infantile Krabbe disease, and metachromatic leukodystrophy. By that date, the health department must electronically provide neonatal intensive care hospitals with an evidence-based pamphlet on preterm infant nutrition. Hospitals may share it with parents and guardians, but distribution to every family is not required.

Stronger safeguards for child welfare services

Beginning July 1, 2026, child welfare providers must meet licensing standards, have no contract termination for failure, and have no active corrective or improvement plan for the service. Florida must publish a standard provider contract covering case management, foster home licensing, independent living, and residential group care. Contracts must standardize reporting, accounting, billing, budgeting, and provider-type attachments; lead agencies may add regional terms. They must address probation, termination, appeals, and emergency termination for immediate, serious danger to children's health, safety, or welfare. Providers cannot continue services while appealing an emergency termination.

Children's hospitals gain trauma designation access

Florida must designate a specialty-licensed children's hospital as a Level I or Level II pediatric trauma center. The hospital must document valid trauma center verification from the American College of Surgeons. Statutory capacity limits and other trauma center law restrictions do not block this designation. The law does not guarantee a particular service or create a household payment.

Grants support foster and kinship families

Florida establishes grants for eligible nonprofit, faith-based organizations supporting foster, adoptive, and kinship families and families caring for vulnerable children. Grants fund family recruitment, outreach, training, trauma-informed services, essential needs, and mentoring. The program gives particular attention to underserved and rural communities. Recipients must report to the Department of Children and Families at least annually. No individual household payment or appropriation amount is specified.

Medicaid plans must target better care

Florida must submit a plan by December 15, 2026, directing Medicaid plans to reward providers for high-quality, patient-centered care. The plan must include measurable goals, actions, timelines, evaluation methods, and ways to adjust to changing conditions. Implementation requires legislative approval, then targets pregnancy and newborn care in year 1, behavioral health in year 2, and chronic conditions in year 3. Beginning July 1, 2026, rate negotiations must consider encouraging cost-effective chronic disease treatments, such as peritoneal dialysis. No particular rate adjustment is required.

More internship support for foster youth

Florida must develop regional foster youth groups, recruit mentors, and work with local businesses on internship options. Recruitment emphasizes Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, and Polk counties, but placements are not guaranteed. Mentors need one year of relevant work experience and one hour of trauma-informed training before being matched with an intern. Experienced Office of Continuing Care staff must help mentors work through questions and challenges. The office may offer annual review training and at least four optional online trainings, each lasting one hour.

Behavioral hospital grants cover more needs

Behavioral health teaching hospital grants can pay operating costs for comprehensive rehabilitation and related support services. They can also cover directly related building costs, including renovations, facility upgrades, and added beds or service capacity. Grants can support creating or maintaining integrated workforce training programs. Funding remains subject to legislative appropriation.

Disability service funding follows enrollment choices

Beginning July 1, 2026, state funding follows people who choose to switch between the developmental disabilities pilot and Medicaid waiver. Transfers cover the remaining fiscal-year months, using each person's state-share cost based on the pilot plan's monthly rate. The agencies must reconcile transfers quarterly. Level 3 and Level 4 life skills providers receive a monthly rate for clients getting at least 80 service hours in a calendar month. Below 80 hours, providers receive an hourly rate; neither rate is stated.

Florida can set adult day-care rates

Beginning July 1, 2026, Florida's Medicaid agency may create a fee schedule for adult day-care providers. The law authorizes the schedule but does not require one. It sets no payment amounts or direct household benefit.

Larger nursing home quality payment pool

These changes start when the amendments made by section 26 of chapter 2025-199 to section 409.908 expire and revert. The nursing home quality payment pool rises from 10% to 18.1373% of included facilities' September 2016 non-property-related payments. Eligibility changes from the 20th-percentile standard to 33% of all available quality points. Consumer satisfaction surveys must count once the agency finds them statistically and scientifically valid. Scoring changes tied to recalculating base payment rates take effect one year after recalculations are complete and scores are public.

Longer contracts for Medicaid health plans

Selected Florida Medicaid managed care plans receive 10-year contracts instead of six-year contracts. Contracts cannot be renewed, but extensions can cover delays in switching to a new plan. Contracts awarded through the 2023 procurement process must run through January 31, 2035. Beginning July 1, 2026, certain recovered or permanently withheld monthly plan payments are split using federal matching percentages. The state share returns to unallocated General Revenue, and the federal share returns to the unallocated Medical Care Trust Fund.

Low-interest loans for health care innovation

Florida's health department administers health care innovation loans only when funds are appropriated. Eligible applicants include licensed health providers and education or training partners, with priority for rural, underserved, and Medicaid-serving nonprofit applicants. Loans can cover up to 50% of implementation costs, or 80% for rural or underserved applicants, but cannot exceed 10% of annual program funds. Interest is capped at 1%, and terms can last up to 10 years. Applicants may submit one application per fiscal year, and principal repayments return to the revolving fund.

Child welfare agencies face tighter carryover

Beginning July 1, 2026, child welfare lead agencies may carry forward unused state funds up to 8% of their annual contract amount. This replaces the cap based on the total contract amount. Agencies must document the funds, separately report spending, and return amounts above the cap. Carryover cannot increase future recurring obligations or pay for services outside the existing contract. Any funds still unused when the contract ends must return to the department.

Behavioral hospitals lose fixed training allocations

The law removes the required $150,000 allocation for each resident position at a designated behavioral health teaching hospital. Slots for Doctors may still fund up to 10 positions at such a hospital. The fixed per-position allocation is no longer required.

Nursing home quality funding falls later

Beginning July 1, 2027, the nursing home quality payment pool falls from 18.1373% to 16.5482%. Both percentages use included facilities' September 2016 non-property-related payments as the base. The reduction lowers money available for quality incentive payments. The law does not quantify changes in resident services or household costs.

Medicaid supply savings and approval requirements

Florida Medicaid must control therapeutic supply spending through a preferred product list based on effectiveness, safety, and cost. The agency may negotiate manufacturer rebates, including through multistate agreements. Covered products outside the preferred list require prior approval, adding a step before recipients receive them through Medicaid. The agency may publish list updates online without formal rulemaking. The law specifies no change in recipients' out-of-pocket charges.

Doctor training funds gain new limits

Slots for Doctors replaces the $100,000 allocation amount with appropriated funding; beginning in fiscal year 2024–2025, the formula weights resident positions 90% and Medicaid payments 10%. Each institution's allocation is capped at twice the average per-position amount, with excess funds redistributed; funding requires an appropriation. New positions must be accredited, address a statewide specialty or subspecialty shortage, and be filled on or after June 1, 2023, remaining filled. Up to 100 positions existing before July 1, 2023, also qualify if accredited, in a shortage specialty, unfilled for at least three years, and filled on or after June 1, 2024, remaining filled. Primary care receives priority when demand exceeds positions or funding, and positions previously funded under subsection (1) are excluded.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Robert Alexander "Alex" Andrade
Republican • House

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 274 • No: 3

Senate vote • 5/29/2026

Senate Floor Vote

Yes: 33 • No: 1

House vote • 5/29/2026

House Floor Vote

Yes: 103 • No: 2

House vote • 5/12/2026