How to Apply for Medicaid in Florida

Your parent needs daily help bathing, dressing, and getting to the bathroom — and you just learned that Medicare does not cover any of it. Florida Medicaid Long-Term Care is the program that actually pays for ongoing personal care at home, but applying involves three separate state agencies, strict financial thresholds, and a clinical assessment most families have never heard of.

Here is the exact sequence from first phone call to enrolled care plan.

Step 1: Call the Elder Helpline and Complete the 701S Screening

Before you touch the ACCESS Florida portal, call the statewide Elder Helpline at 1-800-963-5337. The operator routes you to your county's Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC), where a screener administers the DOEA Form 701S over the phone.

This 20-to-30-minute call calculates a priority score from 1 to 5 based on your parent's functional limitations minus available informal care. The score determines waitlist rank — and ranks below 3 are not placed on the active waitlist at all.

Be precise about what your parent cannot do safely. Saying "she manages okay" when she actually needs hands-on transfer assistance drops the priority score and can add years to the wait.

Step 2: Gather 60 Months of Financial Records

The Department of Children and Families reviews five full years of financial history. Before filing, collect:

• Bank statements (checking, savings, CDs, money market) for all 60 months
• Property deeds and mortgage statements
• Life insurance policies with cash value above $2,500
• Vehicle titles
• Retirement account statements (IRAs, 401(k)s, required minimum distributions)
• Records of any gifts, transfers, or property sales during the look-back window

Any asset transferred for less than fair market value during those 60 months triggers a penalty period. The 2026 Florida penalty divisor is $10,645 per month — a $50,000 gift to a grandchild three years ago means roughly 4.7 months of Medicaid ineligibility.

Step 3: Verify Income and Asset Limits

Florida is a strict "income cap" state. For 2026 long-term care Medicaid, your parent must meet these thresholds:

• Gross monthly income: $2,982 or less (300% of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate)
• Countable assets: $2,000 or less for a single applicant ($3,000 for a married couple both applying)
• Home equity: $752,000 maximum interest in the primary residence

If gross income exceeds $2,982 — even by $1 — your parent is ineligible unless you establish a Qualified Income Trust (also called a Miller Trust). This irrevocable trust requires its own EIN and a dedicated bank account where the over-cap income is deposited monthly.

For married couples where only one spouse applies, the community spouse can retain up to $162,660 in assets under the Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) and receive a monthly income allowance between $2,705 and $4,067.

Step 4: Submit the Financial Application Through ACCESS Florida

File the Medicaid application online at myaccess.myflfamilies.com. Select the application type for aged/disabled long-term care benefits. You will need:

• Social Security numbers for the applicant (and spouse)
• Proof of Florida residency
• All financial documentation gathered in Step 2
• Medicare card information
• Health insurance details

The Department of Children and Families processes the financial eligibility determination. Processing timelines vary, but plan for 45 to 90 days. Missing documentation is the most common cause of delays — submit everything upfront.

Step 5: Complete the CARES Face-to-Face Assessment

Once a waitlist slot opens, the Department of Elder Affairs schedules a comprehensive clinical assessment using DOEA Form 701B. A CARES assessor visits your parent's home to evaluate whether they require a "nursing facility level of care."

Before the visit, have your parent's primary care physician complete and sign AHCA Form 5000-3008 certifying the clinical need. Prepare organized records of:

• Current medications and dosages
• Recent hospitalizations and diagnoses
• Documented ADL (activities of daily living) limitations
• Any cognitive assessments or dementia evaluations

The assessor evaluates bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, and walking abilities. A nursing facility level of care determination is required for SMMC Long-Term Care enrollment.

Step 6: Choose a Managed Care Plan and Activate Services

After both financial and clinical approvals, call the AHCA Choice Counselor at 1-877-711-3662 to select a Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care (SMMC LTC) plan. Florida operates nine regions (A through I) under SMMC 3.0 contracts running through 2030, and each region has different plan options — including Humana, Sunshine Health, Simply Healthcare, and Florida Community Care.

Your selected plan assigns a care manager who conducts a home visit to draft the individualized Plan of Care. This plan authorizes specific weekly hours of home health aide services, personal care, medical equipment, and home modifications.

If your family wants to hire a relative as the caregiver, request enrollment in the Participant-Directed Option (PDO) during this step.

The Timeline You Should Expect

The entire process — from Elder Helpline call to active care plan — typically takes 7 to 18 months depending on waitlist rank and county. Rank 5 applicants (highest standard priority) average 2 to 5 months on the waitlist. Rank 3 applicants often wait two to three years.

Families stuck on the waitlist can access state-funded alternatives like Community Care for the Elderly (CCE) or the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative (ADI) through their local Area Agency on Aging while waiting for a Medicaid slot.

The Florida Home Care Navigation Guide walks through each of these steps with fillable worksheets, financial calculators, and a DPOA superpower audit checklist — so you can prepare the full application package before your first attorney consultation.

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