Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Florida program

Help with care insurance leaves uncovered (CMS Safety Net)

CMS Safety Net can pay for some specialty care when a child cannot get it through Medicaid or KidCare.

What it is

CMS Safety Net can pay for some specialty care when a child cannot get it through Medicaid or KidCare.

This fund can help with specialty visits, tests or prescriptions that a child cannot access through Medicaid or KidCare. It also offers care coordination. A specific service gap and available funding matter.

Eligibility rules
  • Florida residents age 21 or younger can be screened. Medicaid or KidCare financial requirements and sliding-fee criteria apply.
  • The child must not qualify for Medicaid or KidCare, or must be unable to access the needed service through them.
  • Leukemia is a qualifying condition unless it has been in remission for more than five years. Ask CMS directly whether a child who has just turned 21 is still in range.
What you get
  • Help with approved specialty care, tests and prescriptions for up to two conditions.
  • A care coordinator to help arrange the approved care.
What the help covers
  • Safety Net can approve up to two qualifying conditions under one yearly per-child cap, subject to funding. CMS confirms the current dollar cap, remaining allowance and covered services in writing before care is arranged.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital social worker to request a Safety Net application from Children’s Medical Services.
  2. Gather income proof, the insurance denial or service gap, and your doctor’s signed treatment plan.
  3. Ask what you would pay before agreeing to the service.

Children’s Medical Services, 855-901-5390 or CMSClinicalEligibilityUnit@FLHealth.gov · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • Funding is first come, first served until the year’s money is committed. The doctor’s statement and plan of care support the request.
Good to know

The program funds a gap in care. It is not a second health insurance policy.

Other details
  • CMS confirms its current sliding-fee schedule and your family’s share. The social worker can request a written statement of what CMS will pay before you agree to a service.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Safety Net help with a service our child cannot get covered, and what would we have to pay? If it fits, could you help send the doctor’s statement and application?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether there is help for a specific gap in our child’s care.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Name the unpaid service, send income proof and the denial, and sign the application.

Your social worker

The social worker requests the application, gets the doctor's signed statement and sends the provider's plan of care.

The care team

The doctor signs the clinical statement and writes the plan of care for the service.

Who decides
Children's Medical Services at Florida's Department of Health.
Ask your social worker
“Can you call Children's Medical Services about Safety Net for the costs our plan is leaving unpaid, and get the doctor's attestation sent?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the social worker to call Children's Medical Services at 855-901-5390 (or email CMSClinicalEligibilityUnit@FLHealth.gov) for the Safety Net application. Name the exact service that is going unpaid.

  1. Call 855-901-5390 for the application and name the exact uncovered service.
  2. Send income proof and the insurance denial or Medicaid/KidCare denial.
  3. Have the provider send a plan of care for prior authorization.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call 855-901-5390 or email CMSClinicalEligibilityUnit@FLHealth.gov to request the application

What to gather

  • Household income proof
  • Insurance card and the denial, or the Medicaid/KidCare denial
  • The doctor's signed statement (attestation) of the diagnosis
  • The provider's plan of care for the service

How long: No published decision time. Every service needs approval first.

What a yes looks like

A written authorization for the named service and a coordinator's name.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether it was money, income, the diagnosis screening or the service. Money can reopen with the state's new budget year on July 1.

Watch out

  • First come, first served until the year's money is spoken for, and the per-child cap is not published. Ask early.
  • It needs a denial or a gap to point at. It is not a second insurance.
  • The 2026 fee table (what you pay) is not published; ask what your share would be before the service.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 8, 2026.

What it is worth

Payment for some uncovered specialty care, tests and prescriptions, plus a care coordinator, for up to two conditions. The yearly per-child cap is not published.

Covers: Outpatient specialty care and diagnostic tests the plan leaves unpaid · Prescriptions · Care coordination for up to two qualifying conditions · Family needs the program approves

What it costs the family: A share based on income; the 2026 table is not published.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
21 or younger
Age max exclusive
22
Residency
Florida
Financial
Medicaid or KidCare financial requirements and sliding-fee criteria (2026 table not published)
Coverage
does not qualify for Medicaid or KidCare, or cannot access services
Clinical
CMS screens the actual qualifying diagnosis. The adopted December 2015 form lists malignancies C00–D48 except remission longer than five years; a code alone does not approve funding. CMS must resolve the Safety Net age-21 page versus the older under-21 form.
Conditions covered
2

The trap: Money is first come, first served until the year's funds run out, and the per-child cap is not published. Ask early, name the exact gap, and expect to pay a share based on income.

Where I read this

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