Investigation
The Hope Florida money trail
A $67 million Medicaid settlement signed on September 27, 2024 directed $10 million to a foundation tied to the governor's Hope Florida initiative. Within weeks, $8.5 million reached a political committee chaired by the governor's chief of staff and campaigning against Amendment 3 (2024).
Verified
Layer 1, the record
The chain
On September 27, 2024, Centene, Florida's largest Medicaid managed-care contractor, signed a $67 million settlement with the Agency for Health Care Administration resolving pharmacy overpayment claims from 2016 to 2021. The agreement sent $57 million to the state and directed a $10 million one time donation to the Hope Florida Foundation, the direct-support organization for the Hope Florida initiative led by First Lady Casey DeSantis. The settlement was not disclosed to the Legislature.
Drafting records show the donation language was added in September 2024. The agency's general counsel rewrote a draft to include the foundation donation and sent it to then-Secretary Jason Weida, noting that it was per their discussion. During drafting, the donation amount was increased to $10 million. Centene's lawyers inserted language stating that the company was directed by the state to donate. Then-Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard repeatedly removed references to the Attorney General's office from drafts. The records do not show who originated the idea. Weida is now the governor's chief of staff.
In October 2024, weeks after receiving the money, the Hope Florida Foundation made two $5 million grants: one to Secure Florida's Future, a 501(c)(4) linked to Florida Chamber of Commerce leadership, and one to Save Our Society From Drugs. Foundation chairman Joshua Hay testified that the grant applications were addressed to him. Rep. Alex Andrade confirmed that the wire to Save Our Society From Drugs occurred on October 22, 2024.
The two nonprofits contributed a combined $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee chaired by James Uthmeier, then the governor's chief of staff, which campaigned against Amendment 3 (2024), the adult-use marijuana measure. State campaign finance records show that Save Our Society From Drugs gave $4.75 million in three transfers. The Secure Florida's Future figure is not published here, because it has not yet been pulled from the filings and this site does not derive a number by subtraction. Keep Florida Clean also opposed Amendment 4 of 2024, the abortion measure.
The allegations and the denials
Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who chaired the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee investigation, has stated that Amy Ronshausen, executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs, told him Uthmeier directed her to request the grant from the foundation, and that Uthmeier understood what she would do with the funds. Andrade publicly accused Uthmeier of wire fraud and money laundering, and forwarded his findings to State Attorney Jack Campbell. Text messages obtained by the Associated Press show that Uthmeier helped connect Ronshausen in the process.
Those are Andrade's accusations and the cited records, not findings. Uthmeier and DeSantis deny wrongdoing, and DeSantis has characterized the House investigation as a hoax. No charges are known to have been filed against any individual, and none of the conduct described in this section has been adjudicated by any court.
Testifying under oath on April 15, 2025, Hay said "mistakes were made" in the foundation's record-keeping. Testimony and reporting established that the foundation had operated without bylaws, a budget, or recorded meeting minutes, and had not filed required tax returns. Its Form 990 covering August 25, 2023 through June 30, 2024 was prepared and released only after the investigation began. Executive director Erik Dellenback resigned in April 2025.
The state's defense
The administration's position
Agency for Health Care Administration General Counsel Andrew Sheeran wrote to legislative leaders in April 2025 that the Centene settlement allocated $57 million to cover Medicaid dollars kept by the company's former pharmacy benefit manager, plus up to $10.8 million for other alleged damages.
Sheeran wrote that the law does not prohibit negotiating settlement conditions requiring actions other than paying money to the state.
DeSantis has called the $10 million "a cherry on top."
The counter-record
The draft agreement obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald showed that the state's own overcharge figure was $67 million, the full settlement amount.
Four former federal prosecutors told the Times and the Herald that diverting Medicaid settlement money to charities or political committees could amount to theft of federal funds or other crimes.
Expert opinion, not findings The prosecutors were commenting on the conduct as described to them. No court or agency has made any such finding.
Where it stands
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October 14, 2025
Verified Legal status: alleged C8
State Attorney Jack Campbell convened a Leon County grand jury following the House investigation. Witnesses seen at the courthouse included Ronshausen, and subpoenaed witnesses reportedly included members of the governor's circle. This is an investigative stage, not a finding.
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Early February 2026
Verified Declination pending C10
DeSantis and Uthmeier publicly celebrated after a post on X by an unidentified source claimed that federal prosecutors had declined to pursue the matter. What is verified is the celebration. The claimed declination itself is unconfirmed: no named official source in the reporting reviewed has confirmed it, and this site does not treat it as fact.
Single source, unarchived. This entry rests on one report that we have not been able to capture in any archive, so it is checkable today and may not be tomorrow. See spec section 2.3, rung 4.
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February 23, 2026
Verified C11
Florida's top health care official confirmed that the state sent $10 million to the federal government in connection with the 2024 Centene settlement, despite the administration's position that the $10 million was not part of the settlement.
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February 25, 2026
Verified Legal status: alleged C9
The Florida Trident revealed, through public records responses, that the grand jury had produced a presentment, which remains confidential while a legal challenge plays out. At least three Leon County case numbers from the period appear sealed. Asked whether he had received the presentment, Uthmeier said he was not sure what he was allowed to say publicly.
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March 30, 2026
Verified C12
The foundation board approved a draft audit prepared for legislative leaders.
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April 2026
Verified C9
The presentment remained unreleased. Reporting noted that it is unusual for such reports to stay sealed, and raised the question of whether named parties had petitioned to keep it confidential.
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2026 legislative session
Verified C12
Lawmakers declined to fund the Hope Florida program. For the first time since its launch, no state agency requested new money to grow it, and the governor's office withdrew a $535,000 request to create an Office of Hope Florida. House Speaker Daniel Perez said the investigation would continue past the session.
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June 1, 2026
Verified C12
DeSantis and Casey DeSantis announced an expansion of Hope Florida through a church-and-business partnership. The expansion announcement and the funding stall sit side by side in the record, and both are reported here.
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July 27, 2026
Verified C9, monitoring
No release of the presentment was found as of this update.
What a presentment is, and is not. By the definition cited in the reporting above, a presentment is a grand jury report expressing views on governmental misconduct, inefficiency, or misuse of public funds when the conduct falls short of a chargeable crime. No indictments are known in this matter. Nothing on this page should be read to suggest otherwise.
Sources
C1. The settlement and the $10 million donation
C2. How the donation got into the settlement
- Tampa Bay Times / Miami Herald, Lawyers distanced clients from Hope Florida Medicaid deal, records show
- Tampa Bay Times / Miami Herald, 5 unanswered questions about Hope Florida
- Report: $10M Hope Florida donation was from taxpayer dollars owed in Medicaid dispute
C3. Foundation to the two nonprofits
C4. Nonprofits to the political committee
C5. The direction allegation
C6. Foundation governance failures
C7. The administration's defense
C8. The grand jury
C9. The presentment and the sealing fight
C10. The federal question
Single source, unarchived. Every source for this claim sits at rung 4 of the archival ladder in spec section 2.3. It is checkable today and may not be tomorrow, and it may not be used in an Our position block until at least one source is archived.
C11. The reimbursement
C12. Aftermath and program status
Corrections
No corrections logged. When we get something wrong we say so here, with the original claim, the corrected claim, the date, and what changed in verification. Tell us if we have.