Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

FL Gov. Crist Approves Badly Needed Health Insurance, Pt.2 -- The Mechanics

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The way it works is that health insurance companies who wish, can join this state program. They will be required to cover most of the basic health care needs, things like drugs, emergency services and hospital care. These same health insurance companies will not be required to pay for a lot of treatments that full-fledged insurers generally are mandated to cover. Some of the coverages lost are certain screenings and certain transplants. These coverages have been targeted as causes contributing to the rapidly rising costs of health care. This new law will also make provision for those health insurance companies who don’t wish to be members of Florida’s new "Cover Florida" program to “scale-back” even further than those companies who do participate. Those who don’t join, will now have a more free reign to do as they wish in Florida because so much of the state-mandated protective regulation has been removed, even from them.

Currently, under Florida law, there are about 50 mandated coverages for most health insurance policies. These mandates range from coverage requirements for some types of transplants and for the number of days women are allowed to remain in the hospital after childbirth. This new bill will also allow for those families with higher incomes and are not eligible for the subsidized Florida KidCare program to now participate in this program by paying the full premium cost and then getting coverage through the program. One further benefit is the mandate for insurance companies to offer the option of including coverage to unmarried adult children under a family plan up to the age of 30 years of age.

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