LevonP
12-29-2008, 12:43 PM
New Cover Florida plans offer low-cost, bare-bones options, but read the fine print
Kathy Graham sees it as a way to get "just in case" medical coverage for family or friends who are healthy but uninsured. Retiree John Stern sees it as a way to get by for five years until he can get Medicare.
But school nurse Jocelyn Dubois said it's still too expensive for a working-poor family. And bone-marrow transplant recipient Mary Ellen Ross calls it so full of holes that it's almost worthless.
Uninsured people are divided over the state's new Cover Florida program, which will bring 10 new low-cost but bare-bones health policies to South Florida one week from today.
Four insurers will begin selling the policies Jan. 5, open to anyone up to age 64 who has been uninsured for at least six months and who also is not eligible for other government or job-related coverage. It's also open to those who recently were laid off, whose post-layoff employer coverage expired, or who were covered by a spouse who died or was laid off.
Cover Florida plans are bargains compared with the $400 average monthly cost of a full-coverage medical plan from an employer. Basic plans covering only preventive care — such as doctor visits and screenings — can be had for under $100 per month per person. Catastrophic plans that also cover some hospital bills will cost a few hundred dollars per month, on average.
"We hope to get the young invincibles [adults to age 35] with no coverage," said Mary Saiz, vice president of marketing at Medica Health, a Miami insurer offering plans in Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports. Also, she believes that ill, uninsured people who sign up because they have no other options will bring their families with them.
Health experts warn Cover Florida plans have many holes. Even the most generous ones cover only limited hospital costs, prescription drugs and psychiatric care. To keep premiums low, the state let them escape covering home health, hospice, organ transplants, some maternity care and other services.
Experts urge people to look carefully before buying to make sure a policy offers worthwhile coverage for the care they need.
Even so, Kathy Graham wants to find out more. She knows people who can't afford coverage through work or individually, but could swing one of the Cover Florida plans costing a few hundred dollars per month.
"You get 60 years old, you just never know. All the hidden illnesses — prostate cancer, colon cancer — [uninsured people are] not getting tested for them," Graham said. "I'm sure these will cover something."
John Stern, also 60, has no coverage after moving back from a decade of work in countries that covered he and his wife with nationalized health care. He worries an illness could push them into bankruptcy and they would lose their Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here. condo. He wants bare-bones coverage as a shield until they get Medicare at age 65.
But school nurse Jocelyn Dubois said working-poor families she sees in Fort Lauderdale still can't afford even $100 per month per person to buy a Cover Florida policy, and urged state and health officials to keep looking for other options.
For the seriously ill, Cover Florida will be better than nothing, but not much better, said Mary Ellen Ross, who leads an advocacy group for transplant patients.
"This plan doesn't cover Florida by any stretch of the imagination," Ross said. "It's bare bones but less."
Kathy Graham sees it as a way to get "just in case" medical coverage for family or friends who are healthy but uninsured. Retiree John Stern sees it as a way to get by for five years until he can get Medicare.
But school nurse Jocelyn Dubois said it's still too expensive for a working-poor family. And bone-marrow transplant recipient Mary Ellen Ross calls it so full of holes that it's almost worthless.
Uninsured people are divided over the state's new Cover Florida program, which will bring 10 new low-cost but bare-bones health policies to South Florida one week from today.
Four insurers will begin selling the policies Jan. 5, open to anyone up to age 64 who has been uninsured for at least six months and who also is not eligible for other government or job-related coverage. It's also open to those who recently were laid off, whose post-layoff employer coverage expired, or who were covered by a spouse who died or was laid off.
Cover Florida plans are bargains compared with the $400 average monthly cost of a full-coverage medical plan from an employer. Basic plans covering only preventive care — such as doctor visits and screenings — can be had for under $100 per month per person. Catastrophic plans that also cover some hospital bills will cost a few hundred dollars per month, on average.
"We hope to get the young invincibles [adults to age 35] with no coverage," said Mary Saiz, vice president of marketing at Medica Health, a Miami insurer offering plans in Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports. Also, she believes that ill, uninsured people who sign up because they have no other options will bring their families with them.
Health experts warn Cover Florida plans have many holes. Even the most generous ones cover only limited hospital costs, prescription drugs and psychiatric care. To keep premiums low, the state let them escape covering home health, hospice, organ transplants, some maternity care and other services.
Experts urge people to look carefully before buying to make sure a policy offers worthwhile coverage for the care they need.
Even so, Kathy Graham wants to find out more. She knows people who can't afford coverage through work or individually, but could swing one of the Cover Florida plans costing a few hundred dollars per month.
"You get 60 years old, you just never know. All the hidden illnesses — prostate cancer, colon cancer — [uninsured people are] not getting tested for them," Graham said. "I'm sure these will cover something."
John Stern, also 60, has no coverage after moving back from a decade of work in countries that covered he and his wife with nationalized health care. He worries an illness could push them into bankruptcy and they would lose their Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here. condo. He wants bare-bones coverage as a shield until they get Medicare at age 65.
But school nurse Jocelyn Dubois said working-poor families she sees in Fort Lauderdale still can't afford even $100 per month per person to buy a Cover Florida policy, and urged state and health officials to keep looking for other options.
For the seriously ill, Cover Florida will be better than nothing, but not much better, said Mary Ellen Ross, who leads an advocacy group for transplant patients.
"This plan doesn't cover Florida by any stretch of the imagination," Ross said. "It's bare bones but less."