{"id":74504,"date":"2026-07-25T00:36:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=74504"},"modified":"2026-07-25T00:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:36:55","slug":"polk-county-expanded-its-healthcare-plan-eligibility-to-300-of-the-federal-poverty-level-and-streamlined-the-application-process-do-you-qualify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/07\/25\/polk-county-expanded-its-healthcare-plan-eligibility-to-300-of-the-federal-poverty-level-and-streamlined-the-application-process-do-you-qualify\/","title":{"rendered":"Polk County expanded its HealthCare Plan eligibility to 300% of the federal poverty level and streamlined the application process. Do you qualify?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you’re wondering whether you<\/strong> or a local family member might qualify under the newly expanded rules, here is how the updated eligibility criteria break down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Income Limits (300% Federal Poverty Level)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Household Size<\/strong><\/td>Max Monthly Income<\/strong><\/td>Max Annual Income<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
1 Person<\/strong><\/td>$3,990<\/td>$47,880<\/td><\/tr>
2 Persons<\/strong><\/td>$5,410<\/td>$64,920<\/td><\/tr>
3 Persons<\/strong><\/td>$6,830<\/td>$81,960<\/td><\/tr>
4 Persons<\/strong><\/td>$8,250<\/td>$99,000<\/td><\/tr>
5 Persons<\/strong><\/td>$9,670<\/td>$116,040<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(For households larger than 8, add $17,040 per year for each additional person.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Core Qualification Checklist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To be eligible for the Polk HealthCare Plan (PHP)<\/strong>, you must meet the following criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Residency:<\/strong> Be a full-time resident of Polk County.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Legal Status:<\/strong> Be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Coverage Status:<\/strong> Have no<\/strong> health insurance, OR have insurance where premiums cost 9.12% or more<\/strong> of your household income.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Documentation:<\/strong> Have a valid Social Security number and a Florida driver’s license or state-issued photo ID.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Streamlined Requirements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Under the updated rules, the application process requires fewer documents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. One Proof of Income:<\/strong> Submit just one<\/strong> month of pay stubs, your most recent tax return, or a Social Security statement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. One Proof of Residency:<\/strong> A utility bill, vehicle registration, Florida ID, or homestead statement.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Applications are submitted online at polkhealthcareplan.net<\/strong>. If you need in-person assistance filling it out, you can visit the Community Health Care administrative office on Marshall Edwards Drive in Bartow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      If you’re wondering whether you or a local family member might qualify under the newly expanded rules, here is how the updated eligibility criteria break down: 2026 Income Limits (300%… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDdcL2ltYWdlcy0xMy53ZWJwP2ZpdD02NzglMkM0NTImc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJQb2xrIENvdW50eSBleHBhbmRlZCBpdHMgSGVhbHRoQ2FyZSBQbGFuIGVsaWdpYmlsaXR5IHRvIDMwMCUgb2YgdGhlIGZlZGVyYWwgcG92ZXJ0eSBsZXZlbCBhbmQgc3RyZWFtbGluZWQgdGhlIGFwcGxpY2F0aW9uIHByb2Nlc3MuIERvIHlvdSBxdWFsaWZ5PyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.A1O-pW_AE42xw-PN0tH206jM32sXGm1-gNGq1-sbeR8MQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA3XC9pbWFnZXMtMTMud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IlBvbGsgQ291bnR5IGV4cGFuZGVkIGl0cyBIZWFsdGhDYXJlIFBsYW4gZWxpZ2liaWxpdHkgdG8gMzAwJSBvZiB0aGUgZmVkZXJhbCBwb3ZlcnR5IGxldmVsIGFuZCBzdHJlYW1saW5lZCB0aGUgYXBwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvY2Vzcy4gRG8geW91IHF1YWxpZnk_IiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.Y-Xih87wKvJg2_cWfILwA5i2N154hXOxOPvHU4WcICkMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[15162],"class_list":["post-74504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-polk-county-expanded-its-healthcare-plan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74506,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74504\/revisions\/74506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}