To apply for Florida Medicaid, you file Form CF-ES 2337, the ACCESS Florida application, either online through the MyACCESS portal or on paper to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). It’s the same form used for food assistance and cash assistance, so a single packet screens you for all three programs.1eLaws. Ref-11698 CF-ES 2337 ACCESS Florida Application The form itself is only half the job. What you attach to it determines whether the application moves or stalls.
What Form CF-ES 2337 Asks For
The application collects personal information for every household member who needs coverage: full legal name, date of birth, Social Security Number, and citizenship or immigration status. Non-citizens applying for benefits will have their immigration status verified with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.2Florida Department of Children and Families. Application for Benefits – Form CF-ES 2337
You also list household composition — everyone living in the home and their relationship to you. Household members who aren’t seeking benefits can be listed as non-applicants. The form asks about every income source in the household and includes screening questions about financial emergencies, such as whether your household’s gross income is below $150 or whether your income recently stopped entirely.2Florida Department of Children and Families. Application for Benefits – Form CF-ES 2337
At minimum, DCF needs your name, address, and signature to open a case. Nothing else is required to start the clock. If documents are missing, submit anyway and send the rest as you get them. The date DCF receives the application is the date your potential coverage begins from, so waiting for a perfect packet costs you coverage.
Documents to Attach
Missing or incomplete documents are the most common reason applications stall. The paperwork falls into three groups.
Identity, Citizenship, and Florida Residency
Bring a government-issued photo ID, a birth certificate, or a U.S. passport to establish identity and citizenship. For Florida residency, a current utility bill, lease agreement, or voter registration card works. Non-citizens need to provide their immigration documents for verification.
Income
This is where applications get bogged down. Wage earners should attach recent pay stubs. Social Security recipients need a benefit verification letter. Self-employed applicants should have tax returns or 1099 forms ready. The goal is accounting for every dollar of household income, because eligibility turns on whether you fall within the income limit for your category.
Assets (for Some Applicants Only)
Asset documentation applies to elderly and disabled applicants going through SSI-related programs, who face both income and asset tests. For long-term care Medicaid specifically, DCF requires up to five years of bank statements, investment account records, and documentation of any property transfers made during that look-back period. Start gathering those statements early if a nursing home or assisted living level of care is on the horizon.
Disability Verification
If you’re applying based on disability, attach either an official disability determination from the Social Security Administration or medical records from your physician documenting the condition. Disability-based applications also have a longer processing window.
Authorized Representative Form
If someone else will handle the application or receive DCF notices on your behalf — a family member, an attorney, a guardian, or an agent under power of attorney — federal rules require the state to let you designate them.3eCFR. 42 CFR 435.923 – Authorized Representatives In Florida, you make that designation using DCF’s authorized representative form, available through the DCF forms portal.4Florida Department of Children and Families. Authorized Representative Designation for Public Assistance It stays in effect until you revoke it or notify DCF that the representative is no longer authorized. Once designated, the representative can sign the application, submit renewal forms, and receive all notices from DCF.
Where to Submit
Roughly 92% of Medicaid applications and renewals in Florida come in through the MyACCESS portal at myaccess.myflfamilies.com.5Department of Children and Families. Florida’s Medicaid Redetermination Plan You can complete the form online and upload scanned copies of your supporting documents to your account. Even without a full account, the portal lets you upload documents for a pending application.6MyACCESS. MyACCESS Home
Paper filers can mail or fax a completed CF-ES 2337 with attachments to DCF’s central processing unit, hand-deliver it to a local DCF customer service center, or submit through a community partner site. The DCF website and customer call center have current mailing addresses and fax numbers by area.
Who Qualifies to Apply
Florida covers children, pregnant women, certain parents and caretaker relatives, and elderly or disabled individuals. Because Florida has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, most working-age adults without children or a qualifying disability do not qualify, no matter how low their income. Check your category before you file so you attach the right proof.
Income limits are tied to the federal poverty level, which for 2026 is $15,960 per year for a single person and $27,320 for a family of three.7HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines Florida sets its ceilings as a percentage of those numbers:
- Children ages 1 through 18: families earning up to roughly 133% of the federal poverty level.
- Infants under age 1: up to 200% of the poverty level.
- Pregnant women: up to 185% of the poverty level.
- Parents and caretaker relatives: around $486 per month for a household of three.
Those figures come from DCF’s most recent income-limit chart and adjust each year when new poverty guidelines take effect.8Florida Department of Children and Families. Appendix A-7 Family-Related Medicaid Income Limit Chart Elderly and disabled applicants are evaluated under separate income and asset rules.
If You Already Get SSI, Skip the Form
Supplemental Security Income recipients qualify for Florida Medicaid automatically and do not need to file a separate application. Coverage begins when SSI payments start.9Florida Department of Children and Families. SSI-Related Medicaid Fact Sheet
After You File
Federal law caps DCF’s decision window. For most applicants, an eligibility determination has to come within 45 calendar days. For disability-based applications, the window extends to 90 calendar days.10eCFR. 42 CFR 435.912 – Timely Determination of Eligibility The clock runs on DCF’s ability to verify what you filed, so respond quickly to any request for additional information.
Certain applicants can get temporary coverage while a full application is pending. Qualified hospitals enrolled in Florida Medicaid can make presumptive eligibility determinations for pregnant women, children under 19, parents and caretaker relatives, and former foster care children.11Legal Information Institute. Florida Statute 59G-1.058 – Eligibility If you fit one of those groups and need care now, ask the hospital’s financial counseling office about presumptive eligibility before you leave.
Your Filing Date Matters More Than You Think
Florida eliminated retroactive Medicaid coverage for adults aged 21 and older. If you’re approved, coverage starts on the first day of the month DCF receives your application, not before. The two exceptions are pregnant women and children under 21, who can still get retroactive eligibility for up to three months before the application month.12Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Medicaid Retroactive Eligibility Every day an eligible adult delays is a day of potential coverage lost for good.
Applying for Long-Term Care Is a Different Process
If the application is for nursing home care or an assisted living level of services, expect a much heavier lift than the standard CF-ES 2337 packet. Long-term care Medicaid has both income and asset limits, and DCF examines your financial history for the five full years before the application date. That review covers bank statements, investment accounts, property deeds, and any transfers of money or assets.
If assets were given away during that five-year window without fair value in return, the state imposes a penalty period during which long-term care coverage is denied. The penalty length equals the total value of the transferred assets divided by the average monthly cost of private-pay nursing home care at the time of application. The penalty clock only starts once you’ve applied and would otherwise be eligible, which is why families in this situation often consult an elder law attorney before filing.