Gov. Charlie Crist’s Cover Florida health insurance plan may not meet requirements of new federal health laws aimed at boosting coverage, depending on what version of reform federal lawmakers come up with, a top state regulator said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, at least one member of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s Health Insurance Advisory Board on Tuesday said the panel may serve little purpose and should be abolished. It includes representatives from the insurance industry, medical providers, employers and consumers.
Cover Florida, which went into effect in January, wouldn't satisfy minimum standards of health coverage as currently written in the plan being debated in the U.S. Senate, state Deputy Insurance Commissioner Mary Beth Senkewicz told members of the advisory board during a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.
But a rival plan, approved by the U.S. House earlier this month, would likely allow current Cover Florida policyholders to continue to receive limited coverage, even if those policies do not contain minimum standards anticipated in a federally approved plan.
“It appears, at least right now, that those policies would be grandfathered in (if the House version prevails,)” said Senkewicz, who cautioned that competing health reform bills in Congress are changing almost daily.
Cover Florida, touted by Crist to provide basic preventative and catastrophic coverage for an average of $155 a month, has attracted only a small fraction of the estimated 3.9 million Floridians who are now uninsured. As of Oct. 31, Cover Florida covered 5,061 policyholders.
Six health insurance providers have been authorized to offer Cover Florida Health Care plans. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and United Healthcare are available in all 67 Florida counties. Other options are available in Flagler, Volusia, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
On another front, a consumer representative on the advisory panel said the group does little advising and may serve little purpose. Committee member Walter Dartland, executive director of the Consumer Federation of the Southeast, said the committee should consider closing up shop.
Dartland requested that the panel undergo a sunset review to see if it is worth the expense of continuing to meet throughout the year. The Florida Legislature established the board to advise the OIR, the Agency for Health Care Administration and other executive departments as well as the governor and Florida Legislature on issues and trends affecting Floridians in the health insurance marketplace.
