Florida County Commissioners OK Plan To Cut Services, Transfer Money from Other Parts of Budget To Fund Indigent Health Plan

Hillsborough County, Fla., commissioners voted on Jan. 30 to keep "afloat" the county's health plan for the indigent by "shift[ing] funds, dip[ping] into reserves and slash[ing] services," the St. Petersburg Times reports. The health plan, which has been "hailed as a national model," faces a $6.6 million deficit this year (Nguyen, St. Petersburg Times, 1/31). The plan covers county residents who do not qualify for other public health programs and have annual incomes up to 100% of the poverty level, or $8,590 for a single person and $17,650 for a family of four. The program, a managed care plan, is funded through a half-cent sales tax. When it first began, revenues from the sales tax were so high that the plan accumulated a $155 million surplus, prompting county commissioners to cut funding in half. At the same time, the commissioners added new programs to the plan, including health services for prison inmates and children's health coverage. Those additions cost the health plan $16.1 million per year. Because of the added programs and rising costs of medical care, the plan's reserves were nearly depleted. Next year, costs for the health plan are expected to be $97 million, but revenue from the sales tax is expected to be only $81.5 million (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/30). To "salvage" the plan, commissioners on Jan. 30 voted to limit enrollment of people with catastrophic illnesses by lowering the current annual income requirements to those with annual incomes at or below 100% of the poverty level (St. Petersburg Times, 1/31). The plan previously enrolled people with catastrophic illnesses who had incomes above the poverty level (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/30). Commissioners also voted to shorten the time period for which beneficiaries can be enrolled in the plan. The Times does not offer any further details on the time period adjustment. The commissioners also voted to shift to the health plan $3.1 million from the county's reserves; $2.5 million per year over the next five years that was originally allocated to a road construction project; and some funds now used on inmates' medical care (St. Petersburg Times, 1/31).