Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates and resources

Florida Healthy Kids members:If you receive health benefits from Florida KidCare, they may contact you from time to time with important information. If you have moved or changed addresses, update your information by visiting myflorida.com/accessflorida.

If you have any questions about your benefits, we’re here for you. Log in to your account to send us a secure message or live chat with a representative now.

Long-Term Care members: Starting October 1, 2021, your case manager will return to having face-to­face visits with you for your yearly assessment or if you are a new member or going through a major change.From March 12, 2020, to September 30, 2021, your case manager should visit with you by phone, video chatting, or some other means rather than in person. If you are living in a nursing home or assisted living, your case manager will work with the facility to set this up. We will also mail you a copy of your revised plan of care if it changes while we follow this new guidance.

Nervous about going back to face-to-face visits? Between October 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, Long-Term Care members can ask to have a virtual visit instead. Please call your case manager or Member Services if you want one.

Case managers will return to having face­to-face quarterly visits starting January 1, 2022.

New Florida Healthy Kids applicants: If you enroll any time of the month, your benefits will be retroactive back to the first of the month with an approved application and payment. For example, if you paid your first premium on March 20, your benefits would be retroactive back to March 1.

Florida Healthy Kids members: The state has extended the deadline to renew due to COVID-19. We’re still encouraging you to renew on time, if you can. Please renew so you don’t lose your benefits. To renew, either log in to your Florida Healthy Kids account or fill out and mail back the paperwork you got with your renewal letter. Call Florida Healthy Kids at 1-888-540-KIDS (5437) if you have questions or if you missed your deadline. Or call Member Services at the number on your ID card for helping renewing your benefits.

Florida Healthy Kids members: You won’t pay a copay for primary care provider sick visits until further notice. From March 27, 2020, to April 1, 2021, copays were waived for these services:

• Urgent care sick visits
• Emergency room visits
• Face-to-face visits with behavioral health providers
• Home health services
• Telehealth visits with behavioral health or primary care providers or another service
• Lab fees for COVID-19 testing, even from labs that aren’t in the plan

Also, you will have more time to pay your premiums for COVID-19 related services until further notice. For example, if you paid your premium on April 29, your benefits would be retroactive back to April 1.

An appeal is when you ask us to review a decision about your or your child’s health services.

Florida Healthy Kids members: If your deadline to appeal is between March 1, 2020, and the end of this month, you have an extra 120 days to file it.

Florida Healthy Kids members: If you take medicines often, you may be able to get a 90-day supply mailed to you until further notice. This service is only offered for non-specialty medications. Call the Pharmacy Member Services number on your ID card to learn about your options.

COVID-19 vaccines are available now to people ages 12 and up. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized some COVID-19 vaccines and is working quickly to approve others. Learn more.

No. You will not pay anything for your COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccination will help keep you from getting COVID-19. Many thousands of people across the United States took part in research trials over many months. These trials show the FDA whether a vaccine is safe and effective, which it must be certain of before it will authorize or approve a vaccine for public use.

Researchers studied vaccine reactions and potential side effects throughout the trials. Their studies will continue after the vaccine receives approval. The FDA, CDC, and vaccine manufacturers will continue to monitor safety and quality.

Your primary care provider can answer any questions about COVID vaccines. You can also learn more from the CDC.

If you have Medicaid benefits with us, you can activate your online account to get updates on COVID-19 vaccines.

Download the Simply Healthcare app from Google Play or the App Store:

Yes. Even if you’ve already had COVID-19, you could still benefit from the vaccine. You can talk to your primary care provider to see what they recommend. The CDC also has information about the benefits of the vaccine.

An airway and lung infection, like a cold.

Like a cold or the flu. Mild to severe fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after being around someone who has COVID-19.

The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus. Check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website at cdc.gov/coronavirus for up-to-date information. If you are traveling, visit cdc.gov for the CDC’s most current travel guidelines.

Good health habits can also help prevent and fight COVID-19. Here are some tips:

• Wear a face covering over your nose and mouth if you are not vaccinated.
• Social distance by keeping six feet between yourself and others.
• Wash your hands, which is the best way to avoid getting sick. Wash often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you can’t use soap and water, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Clean and disinfect items and surfaces you touch often. Use regular household cleaning spray or a wipe to clean.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, and throw away the tissue.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Avoid touching your face.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Older adults, people with disabilities, and people with diabetes or who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease seem to be at higher risk for more serious COVID-19 illness. We will support you and help you get the care you need.

If you are caring for someone, be sure visitors take care to avoid causing any extra risk to you or them. Keep hand sanitizer by the door, or ask visitors to wash their hands. Wash your hands thoroughly and use hand sanitizer. Do this before and after feeding someone or touching someone, mobility devices, or equipment.

You should check with state and local guidance on masking requirements. You can learn what the CDC says about facemasks.

Call your doctor if you get a fever or have a cough or hard time breathing. Tell them if you’ve been in close contact with a person who has COVID-19. Also, tell them if you live in or have been to an area where the virus has spread. 

Your plan will pay for telehealth visits with your doctor. Can’t reach your doctor? Call 24-hour Nurse HelpLine 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the number on your ID card.

If you have a Medicaid, Long-Term Care, or Florida Healthy Kids plan with us, you do not have to pay anything for the COVID-19 test or the doctor visit to get the test. You can get a visit or test in a doctor’s office, urgent care center, or pharmacy. You should avoid going to the emergency room for a COVID-19 test. There are many other locations that can provide you with a test. Use our testing locator to find a site near you.

No, prior authorization is not required for COVID-19 testing.

You should try to see your PCP or a doctor in your plan. If your doctor offers telehealth visits, your plan will pay for those, too.

You can also video chat with a doctor from your smartphone, tablet or computer. Use LiveHealth Online You can also video chat with a doctor from your smartphone, tablet or computer. Use Beacon Health Options to see a behavioral health provider at no cost to you.

We will pay for care you get from doctors outside your plan (called “out of network”) as long as the services are medically needed.

No. If you get Medicaid, Long-Term Care or Florida Healthy Kids benefits from us, your plan covers sick visits and tests.

If you have medicines you take regularly, call the Pharmacy Member Services number on your ID card to find out about your options.

Your health is important. Try to keep taking your medicines as prescribed, and try to get your refills on time.

Simply Healthcare Plans, Inc. recognizes the role that testing plays in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Medically necessary, FDA-approved COVID-19 tests are covered by Simply during this national public health emergency. Simply will cover COVID-19 tests ordered or reviewed by a healthcare professional to:

1. Check a person that has or may have been exposed.

2. Help in treatment.

Simply usually does not cover COVID-19 testing used for public health or social reasons, such as jobs (returning to work), schooling, travel, or entertainment. Medically necessary COVID-19 tests are defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.