Florida currently has over 400 licensed Adult Day Health (ADH) programs, serving more than 18,000 frail elders and adults with disabilities. These centers provide critical services: health oversight, chronic disease management, therapeutic activities, transportation, nutritious meals, and vital social engagement. More than half of the participants live with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Adult Day Health programs are an essential part of the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care system. They keep people safe at home, prevent unnecessary nursing home placements, and save the state millions each year.

But today, this entire network of care is at risk.

 
⚠ A System Under Pressure

Florida’s Adult Day Health network has operated for years under uneven and often inadequate reimbursement rates that have failed to keep pace with the real cost of care.
While most programs have long struggled to sustain services under outdated funding levels, one of the few rate structures that had been adjusted to reflect the state’s $15/hour minimum wage mandate is now being reduced through a new contract amendment.

This rollback eliminates one of the only fair reimbursement models in the system — and pushes providers who were already operating on the margins even closer to collapse.

Providers are often presented with rate or contract changes that:

• Offer little to no opportunity for review or discussion.
• Leave no clear process for questions or appeals.
• Force centers to make difficult decisions between accepting unsustainable rates or losing access to the members they serve.
  
  This new reduction compounds years of stagnant rates and rising costs, placing enormous strain on an already fragile system — one that supports Florida’s most vulnerable citizens.

 
📉 A Decade Without Real Rate Reform

For more than ten years, Adult Day Health reimbursement rates have remained stagnant while operational costs have sharply increased:

Florida’s minimum wage has risen to $15/hour by law, yet reimbursement has not kept pace.
Insurance, transportation, rent, and food costs have soared.
Staffing shortages have made retention nearly impossible without competitive wages.
Even with these rising expenses, many centers have not received corresponding rate adjustments — leaving them unable to meet both workforce and quality standards.

This is not sustainable. Without meaningful reform, community-based care will continue to erode.

 
🧓 The Human Impact

If this trend continues, the consequences will be immediate and far-reaching:

1. Centers will be forced to reduce services, staff, or close entirely.
2. Families who depend on Adult Day Health programs for daily support will lose access to care and respite.
3. Seniors and disabled adults will be pushed into costlier institutional settings.
4. Communities will lose trusted programs built over decades.
   
   This is not just a financial crisis — it’s a human one.

 
📢 What We’re Calling For

To protect access to care and preserve this vital community resource, we urge policymakers to take immediate action:

✅ Establish a fair and transparent rate-setting process that includes provider input and reflects real operating costs and wage mandates.

✅ Create a statewide reimbursement floor that aligns with verified cost-of-care data and state wage requirements.

✅ Implement clear standards for contract amendments to ensure providers have adequate review time and meaningful participation.

✅ Increase oversight and accountability to ensure that rate adjustments and funding changes support direct care delivery.

 
✊ Why This Matters

Adult Day Health programs have served Florida’s elders and adults with disabilities for decades with dedication, compassion, and efficiency. They are the foundation of community-based care — not an optional service.

Providers cannot lower wages to absorb funding cuts mandated from above. Without fair and sustainable reimbursement, these programs cannot survive.

The future of Florida’s long-term care system depends on ensuring that providers are supported — not squeezed out.

We call on Governor Ron DeSantis, the Agency for Health Care Administration, and the Florida Legislature to take immediate steps to:

-Protect provider sustainability.
-Ensure transparency and fairness in rate setting.
-Preserve community-based care for thousands of Florida families.

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Sign this petition to protect Florida’s Adult Day Health programs and ensure that seniors and adults with disabilities can continue to live with dignity — in their homes, in their communities, and surrounded by care.