CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — It was hard enough for Stephanie to get methadone treatment when she moved to Florida from Indiana last year. The nearest clinic was almost an hour’s drive away and she couldn’t drive herself. But at least she didn’t have to worry about the cost of care.
As a parent with young children who was unable to find a job after moving, Stephanie qualified for Medicaid despite Florida’s tight eligibility rules. The state insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities covers the methadone she needs to reduce her opioid cravings and prevent withdrawal sickness.
For nearly a decade, methadone has helped her hold down a job and take care of her kids. “Just have a normal, really normal, life,” said Stephanie, 39, who asked that her last name be withheld because her two youngest children don’t know about her history of opioid use disorder or that she has been in treatment for opioid addiction. “All the things that some people take for granted.”
So it was devastating for Stephanie when she visited her clinic in summer 2023 and learned she had been dropped from the state’s Medicaid rolls as the program worked to redetermine the eligibility of each enrollee. Su …