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Florida policyholders would help finance a project that targets individuals without insurance.
By HELEN HUNTLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 13, 2001
Floridians who have health insurance could end up chipping in $1 a month to help make coverage available to those who can afford insurance but cannot get it now.
Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher is proposing the fee as part of a plan to reopen the Florida Comprehensive Health Association as a health insurance provider of last resort. The association, which was established in 1983, covers about 700 people but has been closed to new participants for a decade.
The Legislature would have to approve the plan for it to take effect.
"There is presently no legitimate place for an individual with serious health conditions to turn for coverage," Gallagher said Monday in a visit with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board. He said even minor health conditions are being used to disqualify people from individual coverage.
"Because people can't get into FCHA, they go into the small group market," he said.
Gallagher said many people are creating one-person businesses to qualify for such small group insurance coverage because they cannot be turned down for health reasons. But their presence is creating problems for legitimate small businesses, he said.
Rates for small group coverage are increasing 15 percent to 20 percent a year, which means fewer employers are able to provide coverage, Gallagher said. In addition, two-thirds of the insurance companies in that market have dropped out over the past two years.
Gallagher's funding plan would require all companies selling health insurance in the state to pay $1 per month per subscriber to the association, starting Oct. 1. There would be a single fee for a family policy. It would not apply to Medicare supplement insurance policies. The proposed legislation would specifically permit companies to pass the $1 per month charge along to policyholders.
Coverage through the FCHA would have an annual deductible of at least $1,000 for major medical expenses. In many cases, pre-existing conditions could be excluded from coverage for 12 months.
- Contact Helen Huntley at huntley@sptimes.com or (813) 893-8230.