Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday plans to help the uninsured with new, low-cost health insurance, vastly expanded coverage for children and a pilot program offering low-cost primary care in 14 counties, including Miami-Dade and Broward.
Two weeks before the start of the 2008 legislative session, the governor said his top three priorities were healthcare, education and energy/economic development.
Healthcare was at the top of the list. His proposal for cheap health insurance would eliminate all of the 50-plus mandates now required, such as including chiropractors and acupuncturists in any coverage. The plans would be required to guarantee coverage to all uninsured Floridians age 19 to 64. Crist said the cost would be $150 a month.
Insurers disagree. Randy Kammer, a government relations expert for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, said, ''We applaud the opportunity to have that flexibility'' of eliminating mandates, but she feared only the sick who couldn't get other coverage would buy into the plan, creating a high-risk pool that the cheap premiums couldn't cover.
Crist also proposed spending $63.9 million over the next three years to create a pilot partnership with hospitals, county health departments and healthcare providers to support primary care services in neighborhoods with high rates of uninsured.
Coverage of children would be expanded in two ways:
• By removing the ''full-pay cap'' in the Florida KidCare program, all uninsured children in the state, regardless of family income level, could become eligible for insurance through the state program, with parents paying a sliding scale premium based on income level.
• The state would require insurers to allow nonstudent dependents, who generally lose coverage at 19, to stay on their parents' policies until they are 30.
Crist also is recommending that the states make it easier to get dental care by giving dentists incentives to work in public health settings. He also wants to deregulate the hospital industry by eliminating the bureaucratic process of certificates of need.
In education, he proposes that school districts be required to use at least 65 percent of operating funds directly on classroom expenditures.
Third, he emphasized he plans to continue to push hard on climate issues by increasing the usage of renewal energy and developing ''cap and trade'' rules to reduce greenhouse gases.
