SNAP and Medicaid recipients in Florida have lost access to their benefits and health insurance coverage due to issues with a recently introduced application portal.
A new platform named MyAccess was launched in December 2023 for Florida residents to apply for and renew access to benefits like SNAP and Medicaid. Administered by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), the portal has run into significant issues according to numerous reports.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, provides money to low- and no-income households across the U.S. to help them pay for their grocery bills. Medicaid is a government program that provides health insurance for those whose income cannot cover health services.
The portal is reportedly suffering from glitches, resulting in long waits for in-person requests and calls to the DCF. SNAP claimants were required to recertify themselves by January 31 to continue claiming the benefit.
Exactly how many recipients are struggling to access their benefits and health coverage is unknown, but community advocate Vanessa Brito told local media more than 160 people had reported issues with the portal. She said claimants were struggling to upload documents, resulting in their applications being denied due to being incomplete. Newsweek has contacted the DCF for comment via email.
"They're having their cases terminated and closed," said Brito, "We have children, elderly, or just needy families at the moment that are losing health care coverage and supplemental assistance via SNAP.
The issues were also reported in early December 2023 by the Tampa Bay Times. The report included screenshots from a Facebook group showing people complaining that they could not access their information.
One user, Kim Ponce Preston, described the process as a "freaking nightmare" and said "I think they don't want this to work so they drop thousands of people's accounts". Another, Paulina Sabatowicz, complained of being unable to sign in to MyAccess and being told that her account does not exist, just days away from a benefits review.
Cindy Huddleston, senior policy analyst and an attorney with the Florida Policy Institute, an Orlando nonpartisan nonprofit, told the Tampa Bay Times in December: "We're already seeing hordes of people who have lost Medicaid because of procedural issues. This new portal just comes at the worst possible time for a lot of people."
A previous statement by the DCF provided to the outlet claimed that "individuals will have a seamless, guided process to create an account in the system which will link to their previous account and automatically import their information."
"In instances where an individual is having difficulty, the Department has created a special call center with almost 200 agents standing ready to assist."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aliss Higham is a Newsweek reporter based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her focus is reporting on issues across the U.S., including ... Read more
