Few Floridians sign up for low-cost health care

MIAMI (AP) – April 1, 2009 – These days, one of folks’ biggest complaints is that health care costs too much – or that they can’t get insurance to begin with.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the state legislature thought they had found a solution to these problems when they created Cover Florida, a low-cost, unsubsidized health insurance for adults. When Cover Florida took effect in January, Crist said it could extend coverage to nearly 4 million of the state’s uninsured.

Yet three months into the program, less than 1,500 people have enrolled statewide.

“It’s disappointing to me,” Crist said Monday during a press conference at a medical clinic in Hialeah.

It’s certainly easy to qualify for the insurance – you need to be between the ages of 19 and 64, been laid off from your job or have not had health insurance for six months. Those with pre-existing health conditions will not be denied enrollment to Cover Florida, but plans can exclude payment for treatment of certain pre-existing conditions for one year.

The average monthly premium for the program is $155. Some policies cover only the basics such as office visits, screenings, emergency room care and prescription drugs. Others offer hospitalization and catastrophic coverage, but they cost more; children and seniors are not covered because there are other state plans available to them. Premiums vary according to age, gender, geography and options, such as deductibles, that consumers can choose.

Six insurance companies have partnered with the state to offer the insurance.

“We’ve seen a good deal of interest,” said Chip Kenyon, director of expansion markets for Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is based in Jacksonville. “Our sales are running ahead of pace.”

Kenyon said his company has enrolled 1,000 people since January, while a spokesman for United Health care said that company has enrolled two hundred or so since March 1. Other, smaller insurance companies around the state have insured several dozen more.

“We went into this not really having an idea what the consumer’s response would be,” said United’s Roger Rollman. “I think we were ready for a larger number. The numbers may well grow over the next 60 days.”

Gov. Crist said that many Floridians simply aren’t aware of Cover Florida, adding that lawmakers didn’t set aside any money to advertise or market the program.

Mary Saiz, the vice president of marketing for Medica Health Plans – one of the smaller insurers offering the plan in Miami Dade County – said after several Spanish-language news outlets covered Crist’s visit to Medica’s Hialeah clinic on Monday, several hundred people called the insurer on Tuesday morning.

“People don’t know about this, and it’s such a shame,” she said. “Every time a show features it, we get calls.”

But Greg Mellowe, program director of the Community Health Action Information Network, says the coverage may still be too expensive for some people.

“Affordability remains the most consistently formidable barrier – more so than ever in the current economy – especially because subsidies to assist low-income people with premiums have never been part of the mix,” Mellowe wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press. “So the plans being offered through Cover Florida are either not affordable or don’t provide coverage that is sufficiently meaningful.”

David Katzberg of Miami enrolled in Cover Florida through Medica Health Plan in February after discovering the plan’s details on the state website. The 57-year-old, who works for a property management company but does not receive insurance through his employer, says that because the government hasn’t allocated money to promote the program, it’s up to the media to do so.

“In today’s day and age where people are going through financial collapse left and right, the media has to take charge,” he said.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press, Tamara Lush (Associated Press Writer).

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