Florida Legislature Should Not Approve Creation of ‘Bare-Bones’ Health Plans, Editorial Says

Although two million Florida residents lack health coverage, legislation (HB 913) that would allow small businesses to sell lower-cost, stripped-down health plans to the uninsured "is the wrong way to reform health care," a St. Petersburg Times editorial says (St. Petersburg Times, 3/7). Under HB 913, the health plans would be exempt from state laws that require plans to cover 51 benefit areas, including mammograms, HIV-related treatment and certain emergency care services. The plans would be about 30% to 40% less expensive than traditional plans and would serve as an option for uninsured residents who do not qualify for Medicaid or cannot afford employer-based health coverage (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/8). But the health plans "could expose even a young, otherwise healthy family to financial catastrophe and emotional trauma in the event of serious illness," the editorial states. The editorial adds the insurance lobbies that support the bill have not been able to articulate how much benefit mandates actually add to the cost of an insurance policy. "Without that knowledge, it would be the political equivalent of medical malpractice to suspend [mandates] in the mere belief that the costs are significant," the editorial says. As long as the bill would allow health insurance policies with "insufficient" benefits, the legislation should be defeated, the editorial concludes (St. Petersburg Times, 3/7).