07/31/2025
To our CMS patients and their families:
You will be receiving a letter from Sunshine soon informing you that now they are terminating our CMS contract effective 10/26/25.
We are very sorry that Sunshine/Centene’s unexpected request to terminate our contract without cause may cause a disruption to your patient care and wanted to pass along a few updates.
Since the start of Happy Camper Pediatrics, we’ve remained in good standing in all our health plan partner’s networks and have strived to go above and beyond to provide quality, timely care to the communities we serve.
As of this week, we will formally contest Centene/Sunshine’s decision to disrupt YOUR care and remove Happy Camper from the CMS network. We are gathering letters of support from the community, and would accept any letters from our parents to include with our appeal. You can send those to happycamperpediatrics@gmail.com Please send us letters within the next 7 days so we can include them.
We will work diligently on attempting to reverse their decision and protect our patients’ continuity of care, many of whom have seen Elizabeth for years, if not from birth, and have complex conditions that may be significantly impacted by this.
Similarly to last year’s Sunshine contract removal, we have been given no reason as to why. The only answer we received last year was it was a business decision and there are “too many providers in our area.” Certainly anyone looking for a provider in our area would have a differing viewpoint and we can only encourage you to speak up and voice your feelings on this.
In the interim, we have established some FAQs to help ensure you remain informed about what this means for your child and their health.
If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at happycamperpediatrics@gmail.com or 352-508-5353.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Barger, APRN-C autonomous, FNP-C
FAQs
Who can I contact to contest this?
You can call the number on the back of your ID card and request to file a complaint or grievance with your plan. Details can be found here: https://www.sunshinehealth.com/members/medicaid/resources/complaints-appeals.html
CMS customer service to file a grievance is 866-799-5321.
Ensure you receive a confirmation number of your call.
You may also call the state to request an issue with the removal of your healthcare provider and request a formal grievance by calling 1-877-254-1055 or find more information here: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/florida-medicaid-complaints/florida-medicaid-recipients-how-to-file-a-complaint
Why is CMS removing us from its network?
While health plans and providers have the right to request removal from insurance networks, we have not received any explanation for our removal. In the 3+ years of operating Happy Camper Pediatrics, we’ve remained in good standing with our health plan partners and the broader healthcare community. Last year, when Centene/Sunshine terminated our Sunshine medicaid contract for no cause, we were informed it was a “business decision” and there were too many providers in the area. As we learn more, we will share additional details.
What else can I do?
As this is a state contracted insurance plan, you, as a resident of Florida, should be able to voice your opinion on how this is going to negatively impact your complex child’s medical care to the state. Suggestions include contacting your local state representative ( https://www.flhouse.gov/FindYourRepresentative ) or Senator ( https://www.flsenate.gov/senators .) You also can contact local media to help advocate for no disruption to your child’s care and to be able to continue seeing the provider you have chosen for your child!
What about other medicaid plans?
While we feel many of our CMS patients truly need the services covered by CMS, some might be able to pivot to another medicaid plan. In that case, we have contracts with Aetna and FCC medicaids.
Senators are chosen by the citizens of Florida to represent them and the area (district) where they live. Each member of the Senate must live in the district that he or she represents. Senators are elected to serve four-year terms. Currently, 40 Senators serve the people of Florida.
