Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Florida’s 3rd Report Card…Coming Up Short, Pt.2 – ‘Bare-bones’ may not get it.

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“Low-cost, "bare-bones" health insurance is nothing new. It has been implemented in other states and even in Florida’s past. It has only achieved limited success in those cases. Even though Florida has over 3.7 million residents with out health insurance, it’s health plan for the last six years, called “Health Flex" only had about 2,300 enrollees back in December of last year. The Center on Budget and Policy, in this recent report has further noted that “virtually all those who enrolled in Health Flex did so in counties where they received subsidies to help them pay for it.” The main problem with the new plan is that "when low-income people do enroll in bare-bones health insurance plans, they face a significant risk of experiencing high out-of-pocket costs," warns the report. The risks come into fruition when people require hospital stays and/or extensive medical treatment. This is when the shock occurs and the large co-pays and deductibles that they now owe out-of-pocket because of the cut-rate health insurance policy they hold far exceed what they can pay.

The real problem is that, even the least of these policies (offer the least and cost the least), is expected to come out at $150 per month. This figure is still out of range for most of the ‘low-income’ segment. So the rub explained by the Center's report is "Because most uninsured people have low incomes, they need subsidies to help them afford coverage." So little effect is expected from the new scheme to significantly reduce the 3.7 million figure of Florida residents who have no health insurance. For important information on the dangers of inadequate health insurance, please refer to “Hidden Dangers of Inadequate Health Insurance”.