For Florida FES-UA & FES-EO Families

Stop Claim Denials
Before They Happen.

SunshineClaimBuddy uses AI to review your receipts for missing license numbers, mismatched dates, and compliance issues — before you submit to the Step Up For Students portal. Supports both FES-UA and FES-EO scholarship programs.

Independent tool · Not affiliated with SUFS or Step Up For Students

Sound familiar?

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"Your claim is On Hold for missing documentation."

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Digging through the 43-page handbook to figure out why it was denied.

Waiting weeks for a response only to find a simple fix was needed.

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Scanning a receipt on your phone but worried about SSNs or bank numbers visible in the background.

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Writing a pre-authorization letter from scratch, unsure of the right category or what policy to cite.

See it in action

Real screens from the app — no mock-ups.

Claims list — Ready status and High approval likelihood

Claims at a glance
See every claim's status and approval likelihood in one place.

Claim detail — AI approval likelihood High with compliance reasons

AI compliance review
Every document checked against FES-UA & FES-EO rules before you submit.

Submission tray with portal category fields pre-filled

Submission tray
One-tap copy for every portal field — no retyping, no mistakes.

Everything you need to submit with confidence

SunshineClaimBuddy reviews your documents end-to-end so you know what to fix before you open the portal.

Claim Submission Workflow

Scan → AI compliance check → category & justification → approval likelihood score → submit with the tray. The entire process is guided so nothing slips through.

See the full walkthrough →

Compliance Check

AI scans every document against the current FES-UA or FES-EO purchasing rules for your program — prohibited items, frequency limits, provider requirements, and more.

Missing License Detector

Provider credentials are required for specialized services, elective instructors, and tutors. We check every invoice for missing license numbers and credential details before you submit.

Category Advisor

Get the exact 3-level portal category path (L1 → L2 → L3) with a confidence rating and plain-English reasoning — no more guessing.

PII Scanner & Redaction

Before anything leaves your device, sensitive data — credit card numbers, SSNs, bank accounts — is flagged and permanently redacted in-app.

Approval Likelihood Score

AI scores every claim High / Medium / Low with key reasons — "Amount matches POP ✓, Pre-authorization may be required ⚠".

Pre-Authorization Assistant

Search Google, navigate to any product page, and tap one button. AI reads the live page, identifies the item and price, picks the right portal category, and writes a complete authorization letter — ready to copy and submit.

See how it works →

Appeal Letter Generator

Got a denial? AI drafts a ready-to-send appeal letter pre-populated with your item details and relevant FES-UA or FES-EO policy citations.

Pre-Authorization Made Easy

From Google search to pre-auth letter in seconds.

Buying something that needs pre-approval from SUFS? Stop drafting letters by hand. SunshineClaimBuddy reads the product page and writes the request for you.

1

Search like you normally would

Type your product name or paste a URL directly into the built-in browser. Search Google, Amazon, a therapy clinic's site — any page works.

2

Land on the product page & tap one button

Navigate from the search results to the actual item page. Once you're there, tap "Pre-Auth This Item" — that's it. No copying, no forms.

3

AI reads the page & categorizes the item

Gemini AI reads the live product page — not just a screenshot — and extracts the item name, price, and determines the correct FES-UA / FES-EO portal category (L1 → L2 → L3) automatically.

4

Get an eligibility summary & ready-to-send letter

You receive a 4-line eligibility summary and a complete, pre-written authorization letter — citing your student's scholarship, the item, the price, and the applicable FES program rules. One tap to copy.

5

Submit through the portal tray

Open the SUFS portal inside the app. The Submission Tray surfaces your pre-filled category, cost, and letter — every field ready to paste. You keep control of every click on the official site.

What used to take 30 minutes now takes 30 seconds. No handbook digging. No letter templates. No guessing which category.
Pre-Auth list — Celestron telescope, READY, category auto-identified

Pre-Auth List
Item captured, categorized, and ready to submit.

Pre-Auth details — item name, cost, category, and 4-line summary

AI Details
Item name, price, category, and eligibility summary — all extracted automatically.

Pre-auth authorization letter — full text ready to copy

Authorization Letter
Full letter written by AI — one tap to copy and send.

Claim Submission, Simplified

Stop guessing. Stop getting denied.

SunshineClaimBuddy walks you through every step — from scanning your receipt to hitting Submit on the portal — so you know you've got it right before you ever press send.

1

Collect documents your way

Snap a photo with the in-app scanner, or share directly from Photos, email, or any file app. Receipts, invoices, and proof-of-payment screenshots are all automatically ingested — no manual data entry.

2

PII auto-detected & redacted before it leaves your phone

On-device ML extracts text — no images sent to the cloud. Then local PII scanning flags credit card numbers, SSNs, and bank accounts before a single byte is transmitted. One tap permanently redacts anything sensitive.

3

AI reviews every document against FES rules

The AI reads your receipt, invoice, and proof of payment together — the way a reviewer actually would. It catches prohibited items, missing license numbers, mismatched dates & amounts, and frequency violations — before you submit.

4

Get the exact portal category & a justification you can copy

AI determines the full 3-level category path (L1 → L2 → L3) with a confidence score and plain-English reasoning. It also writes a justification paragraph in the tone SUFS reviewers expect — ready to paste.

5

See your approval likelihood before you open the portal

Every claim is scored High, Medium, or Low with specific callouts — "Receipt amount matches POP ✓" or "Provider license number not found ⚠". Know exactly what to fix, or know you're good to go.

6

Submit with the Tray — zero retyping

Open the SUFS portal inside the app and slide out the Submission Tray. Category, service date, amount, justification, and your documents are all pre-staged. One tap copies any field. You stay in control — the app never submits on your behalf.

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The average denial is caused by something a reviewer could catch in 60 seconds. SunshineClaimBuddy catches it first — so you avoid rejection emails.
Claims list — Ready, High approval likelihood

Claims at a Glance
Every claim's status and approval likelihood in one list.

Claim detail — AI flags every compliance issue

AI Compliance Review
Issues flagged before you open the portal.

Submission tray — portal category L1/L2/L3 pre-filled

Tray: Portal Fields
Category L1/L2/L3, date, and receipt # — pre-staged for one-tap copy.

Submission tray — files ready for upload

Tray: Files Ready
Documents exported and waiting — open the portal and upload.

Simple, Transparent Pricing

Free for core features, with AI-powered compliance for power users.

Free Forever

$0

  • All non-AI features
  • On-device OCR & Scanning
  • Local PII Redaction
  • Manual Category Browsing
  • Organization & Storage

Trial

Free

  • Full AI access
  • First 3 claims & 3 pre-auths
  • Perfect for checking your first few submissions
Privacy First

Your documents never leave your device during OCR.

Text extraction runs entirely on-device using local machine learning — no photos are ever uploaded to a cloud server for reading. PII scanning (credit card numbers, SSNs, bank accounts) also runs locally before anything is sent anywhere.

  • On-device OCR — no receipt images sent to the cloud
  • Local PII detection before any data leaves your phone
  • Portal credentials are never stored — you log in manually
  • Documents stored locally in your device's secure file system
  • AI analysis uses anonymized document text, not your images
Read Full Privacy Policy

Independent Tool. SunshineClaimBuddy is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected in any way to Step Up For Students, the Florida Department of Education, or any government agency. AI outputs are informational only and do not constitute legal or financial advice. Claim approval decisions are made solely by SUFS.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the end-to-end claim submission flow look like?

Scan or share your receipt, invoice, and proof-of-payment into the app. On-device OCR extracts the text locally — no receipt images are sent to any server. A local PII scan then flags any sensitive data (SSNs, credit cards) so you can permanently redact it with one tap. The AI then analyzes your entire claim as a unit, cross-referencing the FES-UA or FES-EO handbook to catch compliance issues, missing license numbers, date mismatches, and category errors. You get a 3-level portal category suggestion with reasoning, an AI-drafted justification paragraph, and an approval likelihood score before you ever open the portal. When you're ready, the Submission Tray pre-stages every portal field for one-tap copying. You control every click on the official SUFS site.

How does the pre-authorization feature work?

Open the Pre-Auth tab, type a product name or paste a URL into the built-in browser, and navigate to the product page. Tap "Pre-Auth This Item" and the AI reads the live page content — extracting the item name, price, and determining the correct FES-UA or FES-EO portal category. Within seconds you get a 4-line eligibility summary and a complete, ready-to-copy authorization letter. No letter drafting, no handbook searching, no category guessing.

Which Florida scholarship programs does this support?

SunshineClaimBuddy supports both the FES-UA (Unique Abilities) and FES-EO (Educational Options) scholarship programs. The AI is trained on the specific purchasing guidelines for both scholarship tracks. Always verify current eligibility rules with the official program handbook.

Does the app submit claims automatically?

No. The app opens the real Step Up For Students portal in an embedded browser and gives you a Submission Tray to copy pre-filled values. Every action on the official portal is made by you. This is intentional — your claim, your control.

How accurate is the AI compliance check?

The AI is trained on current FES-UA handbook rules and is designed to catch the most common denial reasons. However, program rules change and AI can make mistakes. Always cross-check against the current official handbook before submitting. The app includes an offline copy of the handbook for quick reference.

Is my children's data safe?

Yes. OCR runs entirely on-device — no receipt images are uploaded for text extraction. Student profile data (name, EMA ID) is stored in your device's secure storage. AI analysis sends only extracted text (not images) through an encrypted proxy server. See our Privacy Policy for details.

What does the subscription include?

Free features include document scanning and storage. The subscription unlocks AI-powered compliance checking, category suggestions, approval likelihood scoring, and appeal letter generation. Pricing details will be available at launch.

When is the app available?

The app is in final development. Join the waitlist below to be notified when it launches on iOS and Android.

Be first to know when we launch.

Join the waitlist and get notified the moment SunshineClaimBuddy is available on the App Store and Google Play.

No spam. One email when we launch. That's it.