U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Jacksonville. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)
JACKSONVILLE — The federal judge handling the class action filed by clients kicked off Medicaid by Florida state agencies following the end of the COVID emergency warned both sides Friday that neither would be happy with her ruling and suggested they discuss a settlement.
“I don’t think either one of you is going to be totally thrilled,” U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard said as she exited the courtroom on the last day of the bench trial. The judge, appointed by George W. Bush, suggested that the attorneys could come up with a better solution to the dispute, which involves notices the state sends people when they lose Medicaid benefits.
During testimony this week, Morales Howard asked state employees how the Florida Department of Children and Families figures out Medicaid eligibility and notifies people when their benefits end. On the last day of the trial, she didn’t appear convinced by an estimate from Deloitte, the contractor handling the system, that it would take 28,000 hours to update Medicaid termination notices to include case-specific information.