With the competition removed, Broward school district's insurance provider is increasing its rates by up to 45 percent.

If Adriana Martin, a science teacher at Glades Middle School in Pembroke Pines, wants to include her 1-year-old son on her health insurance, it's going to cost about $600 a month, up from $400.

``It's really outrageous,'' Martin said. ``I've gone to other insurance companies -- I have a quote right now for $200 a month for better coverage than I have right now.''

Until last year, Broward schools employees could pick between two companies for health insurance plans -- so competing Humana and Vista Healthplan kept their perks attractive and prices low.

Now the district has one carrier, Vista -- and the company is increasing its rates by up to 45 percent for parents wanting to insure their kids starting Jan. 1.

Rising healthcare costs across the country have some private businesses and government agencies scrambling to provide adequate insurance at acceptable premiums for employees.

But not all have seen the same eye-popping jumps as Broward schools.

Miami-Dade schools employees, for example, will see no changes in their dependent costs next year, though some teachers got hit with an increase this year.

Both school districts -- and the two county governments -- pick up the entire tab for employee health insurance. But employees pay for their dependents. That's the cost that's climbing for the Broward school system.

District officials say the problem could have been worse: At one point, it looked like even the employee's coverage might come with a price.

``We didn't think we were going to be able to do it,'' said School Board member Stephanie Kraft, chairwoman of the superintendent's insurance advisory committee.

Kraft and the School Board have faced criticism for picking Vista in the wake of last month's arrest of suspended board member Beverly Gallagher in a federal corruption probe, which called into question how the district doles out lucrative contracts. (Gallagher has pleaded not guilty.)

And Kraft has drawn scrutiny after the recent revelation that her husband worked for influential board lobbyist Neil Sterling -- who also represents Vista before the School Board.

Speaking at her lawyer's Fort Lauderdale office Thursday, Stephanie Kraft showed The Miami Herald a pages-long chart she created last year comparing bids from companies seeking the district's $1.7 billion health insurance contract.

The chart shows Kraft's rankings based on dozens of criteria, including whether a company had a customer service phone with a local area code and whether it offered in-network coverage for children of schools employees going to college outside South Florida.

``It wasn't an arbitrary decision for me,'' Kraft said. ``It was thought out.''

Vista and its affiliates contributed $2,000 to Stephanie Kraft's 2006 reelection campaign, and $2,000 to her husband's unsuccessful Coral Springs City Commission campaign that same year. Stephanie Kraft also accepted $500 from Humana.

And Vista has given to other board members, among them Gallagher, Robin Bartleman, Phyllis Hope and Jennifer Gottlieb.

In a written statement, Michelle Johnson, Vista's communications director, said the insurance company, which has been a school district provider for 14 years, had no knowledge during Mitch Kraft's commission race that the school district would go out to bid for a sole benefits provider two years later.

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