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Felons cut out of health plan

"They can go to the emergency room like everybody else in America," one commissioner says.

By BILL COATS
Published April 7, 2005

TAMPA - Three-time felons will lose their eligibility for a county indigent health care program under a policy approved Wednesday by the Hillsborough County Commission.

Commissioners voted 5-2 along party lines for the change. But opinion on the commission really broke three ways.

The Republican majority was led by Commission Chairman Jim Norman, who has pushed the idea since September, when the county began searching for ways to avert a deficit in the $97-million health program.

Dissenters included Democrat Kathy Castor, who thought commissioners should refer the idea to a 2-month-old task force charged with mapping a plan of solvency for the health program. Commissioner Mark Sharpe, chairman of the task force, agreed with Castor but backed down as his fellow Republicans urged stronger action.

"We don't need to agonize and flop around with it," said Republican Ronda Storms. "If you think strongly that this should be happening, then pull the trigger."

Tom Scott, the commission's other Democrat, wanted assurance that a felon who had reformed could eventually win back the benefit.

"You punish somebody forever, I have a real problem with that," Scott said.

They don't have to commit felonies, Norman replied. And without health coverage, "They can go to the emergency room like everybody else in America," he said.

Funded by a half-penny sales tax, the Hillsborough HealthCare Plan attempts to coax the needy into clinics and preventive care instead of more expensive emergency care.

The plan's latest financial crisis prompted commissioners two months ago to temporarily eliminate eye exams and routine dental work, and refuse patients who need catastrophic care.

Norman originally broached the felon idea as another money saver. But his proposal Wednesday would apply to future felonies, not those already on someone's record. If the measure were applied to the last 15 years of crime, it would affect one in 25 patients in the plan and deny more than $3-million in annual benefits, according to a staff study.

"These criminals are violating the very people who are paying for their plan," Norman said.

With little discussion, commissioners endorsed another of Norman's proposals Wednesday, instructing the county staff to devise tax breaks for military personnel.

Norman advocates waiving county property taxes for those serving in a combat zone. He also would like to waive impact fees on a home purchased by someone who moved to the county to work at MacDill Air Force Base. Impact fees, which average about $1,900 for a three-bedroom home, are charged when the house is built. About 3,000 to 4,000 people transfer in and out of MacDill each year.

Bill Coats can be reached at 813 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 7, 2005, 01:22:13]