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Floridians who may not be able to afford health insurance can now get access to free coverage under a special enrollment period for Affordable Care Act plans. The expanded enrollment comes as the federal health emergency that helped millions of people gain Medicaid coverage during the pandemic could be ending in the coming months. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the special enrollment period in March to help Americans making up to 150% of the federal poverty level receive free health insurance coverage. For an individual, the cutoff is $19,320 and for a family of four it's $39,750. Officials say the temporary expansion could help those who have gained access to Medicaid during the public health emergency, which started early on in the pandemic and continues today. (Bruner, 4/1)

Before the pandemic, Valerie Fox almost never used telehealth — nobody did at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, where she works as a behavioral health occupational therapist. Now, many patients request it. “Especially with the VA, a lot of people come from a lot of different parts of the state to here,” Fox said. “When we go to transition to outpatient work, it’s a lot easier.” With telehealth, people can more easily incorporate OT into their daily schedules — an hour here, an hour there. “It doesn’t become this big thing,” she said. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 4/4)

State House and Senate proposals to restore Medicaid dental coverage for more than 200,000 eligible recipients — after state funds were stripped 13 years ago — have received universal written support from state agencies, Hawaii’s major health care organizations, private dentists and their associations, medical clinics in Waianae and Waimanalo, and social service agencies serving the needy, seniors and the disabled. (Nakaso, 4/4)

When Stacey Abrams ran for governor in 2018, Brian Kemp’s advisers worried that she’d carve a path to victory by pulling off a dual narrative of being both an icon of the left and a pragmatic consensus-builder to middle-of-the-road voters. Though she struggled to navigate that balancing act four years ago, Abrams may be in a better position to pose such a threat as she prepares for a potential rematch against Kemp. (Bluestein, 4/1)

KHN: Patients’ Perilous Months-Long Waiting For Medicaid Coverage Is A Sign Of What’s To Come

Korra Elliott has tried to avoid seeing a doctor while waiting to get on Medicaid. She worries she can’t afford more bills without any insurance coverage. But in early March — five months, she said, after applying and with still no decision about her application — a suspected case of the flu sent her blood pressure soaring and landed her in the emergency room. The 28-year-old mother of four from Salem, Missouri, is among the tens of thousands of uninsured Missourians stuck waiting as the state slogs through a flood of applications for the state-federal health insurance program. Missouri expanded the program last year after a lengthy legal and political battle, and it now covers adults who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level — about $18,800 annually for an individual. (Sable-Smith and Pradhan, 4/4)

KHN: Record Fines Might Mean California Is Finally Serious About Improving Medi-Cal

Is California getting tougher on health plans that participate in Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for low-income residents? A few weeks ago, state regulators imposed a record $55 million in fines on L.A. Care, California’s largest Medi-Cal managed-care plan, for failing to ensure adequate care and allowing treatment delays that threatened enrollees’ health. Patient advocates hope the move signals stricter enforcement against other Medi-Cal insurers, which have many of the same shortcomings for which the regulators just fined L.A. Care. (Wolfson, 4/4)