National Headlines

Rate of uninsured remains stubbornly high in Florida

By Christine Jordan Sexton
8/27/2008 © Florida Health News

So often, when there’s good news about health costs or coverage, Florida misses out. It happened again Tuesday with the release of survey data by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationally, the percentage and number of people without health insurance dropped last year. But that trend did not reach Florida, where more than 20 percent of Floridians continued to lack health coverage.

Because so many Floridians are retirees, Medicare cushioned the statistical blow. Take out those age 65 and over and one in four Floridians lacks health coverage: 3.7 million persons. 

Gelber
“That qualifies as an outright crisis,” said House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach. “Florida is failing its citizens.” 

Nationally, the Census reported, the percentage of people without health insurance was 15.3 percent last year, down from 15.8 percent in 2006. The number of uninsured was reported to be 45.7 million, down from 47 million.
 
But the trend skipped some states. Nine states actually saw an increase; Florida, despite a slight increase, isn’t counted among them because it was within the statistical margin of error. Only two other states, New Mexico and Texas, registered a higher percentage of uninsured last year.
 
The sobering statistics come at a time when Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist continues to promise that help will soon be on the way. By early next year, Crist says, Floridians will be able to purchase health insurance coverage through his ambitious Cover Florida program, which aims to offer low-cost, stripped-down health insurance for as little as $150 a month.
 
Earlier this month, nine insurers and other health care groups responded to a state invitation to participate in the program. The state is scheduled to select the ones that will participate in the program by Oct. 1. Cover Florida benefits are expected to be available by Jan. 1. 

Holly Benson, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, said in an e-mail statement to Florida Health News that the creation of the Cover Florida program and the elimination of low income restrictions for the state’s children’s health insurance program show that the Crist administration has made “helping the uninsured find affordable health insurance a priority.” 

But Gelber, who was a supporter of the Cover Florida legislation this past spring, said he was doubtful that the program would make a significant dent in Florida’s uninsured.  “It was a small, good, responsible step, but not anything that will measurably address this crisis,’’ said Gelber. 

The Census figures also show that Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured poor children in the nation, at 12.6 percent. That was higher than Mississippi’s and South Carolina’s. Only Texas had a higher percentage of uninsured children, at 13.7 percent.
 
“That’s an embarrassment,” said social services lobbyist Linda Merrill. “Now it’s time for everyone to rally.” 

Merrill and other children’s advocates have fought for years to make enrollment easier for Florida’s KidCare program; many of the streamlining proposals have gotten mired in the Florida Legislature. This year lawmakers did agree to spend nearly $29 million to pay for the enrollment of an additional 38,000 children in KidCare. 

The new federal statistics show that among the 14.4 million in Florida who have health insurance, about 11.4 million residents get it through private companies. Another 5.2 million have government-sponsored health insurance, most of it through Medicare. 

Tallahassee correspondent Christine Jordan Sexton can be reached at christinesextonwork@hotmail.com. Free-lance reporter Gary Fineout contributed to this article.