The troubling trend, part of a new report by the state, may prompt Florida to follow other states that have enacted sweeping health insurance plans.
Ideas under consideration include requiring all college students in the state to buy health insurance, and giving parents the option of keeping children covered up to age 30.
This fall, Florida State University became the first university in the state to require new students to provide proof of adequate health insurance. The University of Florida is considering a similar move.
State officials did find one piece of good news in the report, compiled by the Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board: The raw number of people covered by private insurance did grow from 2005 to 2006.
''There have been a number of positive developments in the health insurance market,'' state Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said Wednesday. ``However, having 25 percent of Floridians without health insurance is a serious concern.''
The report is based on recently released U.S. Census data. And the situation is worse in Miami-Dade County. A more detailed study released two years ago showed that nearly 600,000 Miami-Dade residents, or about 29 percent of those under 65, were without health insurance.
''It's getting to the point that these numbers cannot be ignored by anyone,'' said Daniella Levine, executive director of the Miami-Dade Human Services Coalition, a social services group.
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A panel led by McCarty will consider Friday whether to recommend that the Legislature take bold steps to help counter the rising number of uninsured.
The recommendations to be considered, according to the agenda of the meeting, include a health insurance mandate for college and university students, and expanding Florida's Healthy Kids program, which provides subsidized health insurance for children.
Other ideas include starting a state-funded pilot program to subsidize insurance for low-income families, and expanding the use of stripped-down insurance plans that don't have the same level of coverage as other health insurance.
Most insurance experts contend that it is the cost of health insurance that causes most people to go without.
The logic behind making college students carry insurance: It increases the number of healthy people paying for insurance and spreads the ''risk'' and the cost among more people.
''College students would be people who are generally healthy,'' said Jim Bracher, executive director of the Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board.
That's the same logic behind letting parents carry their children on their policies until age 30. The limit now under state law is 25, though it can be lower in some policies. The change under consideration by the advisory board would also jettison a state requirement that the child be financially dependent on parents to stay on their policy.
Harry Spring, regional government relations director for health insurer Humana and a member of the advisory board, isn't sure that would work. He said adding more people to the same policy will drive up the overall cost.
''What you are talking about is people over 25 who can't find employment that offers health insurance,'' Spring said. ``We have to be straight about it, that it will increase the cost.''
COST CONCERNS
State University System Chancellor Mark Rosenberg said the group that oversees Florida public universities has discussed the health insurance mandate, but members worry about dramatically increasing the cost of college.
FSU students who do not show proof of insurance this year must purchase a policy from FSU that costs $1,440 a year, although there is a process for a student to get a waiver if they have a financial hardship. ''It could become another unfunded mandate,'' Rosenberg said.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Charlie Crist would not say whether he would endorse any of the recommendations that come from the advisory board. The state's Agency for Health Care Administration has put together its own group to study the issue of the uninsured and is looking to make recommendations.
Lawmakers who deal with insurance issues in both the House and Senate could not say whether they would endorse any of the proposals under consideration.
''I am enthusiastic about looking at any suggestion anyone has to reduce the cost of healthcare,'' said Sen. Bill Posey, a Rockledge Republican and chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
Phil Latzman of WLRN/Miami Herald Radio News contributed to this report.
