TALLAHASSEE -- Florida has the third-highest percentage in the nation of residents without health insurance, and on Wednesday, the state Senate unanimously passed Gov. Charlie Crist's plan aimed at dramatically reducing those numbers.

The ''Cover Florida'' plan would lift state mandates requiring insurers to offer a wide benefit package, allowing smaller plans with lesser benefits. Insurers could cap services, limit coverage, require co-pays and offer limited prescription-drug coverage.

The smaller health plans, aimed at insuring the 3.7 million Floridians without coverage, would come with a smaller price tag: about $150 a month, as opposed to current premiums that can exceed $600, said Crist, who hopes that people would buy insurance if it were cheaper.

''The Cover Florida Act would essentially break down some of the bureaucratic barriers that currently exist, make it simpler for health insurance companies to help our fellow Floridians and offer rates that are significantly lower than they are today,'' Crist said.

Another plus of the plan: Any Floridian under age 65 who hasn't had insurance for the previous six months could voluntarily purchase and keep coverage regardless of whether they are employed.

But there are no guarantees right now. Though the Senate unanimously passed the plan with no debate, the House wants a more expansive measure that the governor's staff has criticized as unwieldy and too ambitious. Crist, though, said the two sides are coming together and House Healthcare Council Chairman Aaron Bean has adopted Crist's mantra of being ''an optimist'' in predicting a resolution.

Details of the plans have yet to be worked out. Insurance companies would have to negotiate with the state to determine what they'll offer. So no one knows what exactly will be covered, what the plans will cost and, therefore, what people will want and be able to afford to buy.

At the least, insurance companies would have to offer two plans: one with so-called catastrophic coverage and one without.

OPTION TO BUY

Purchasing the plans would be optional and could be bought by individuals or by employers. They must offer prescription-drug coverage of some type, and some coverage for surgery or hospital stays.

Crist, Bean and state senators say they don't expect every one of the uninsured to buy a plan, regardless of the package. Some people just don't want to spend the money.

With 20.2 percent of its population uncovered, Florida has the third-highest rate of uninsured in the nation. Of the 3.7 million uninsured, about 22 percent are 18 and younger, according to legislative analysts, and about 43 percent of all Floridians age 18 to 34 are uninsured.

Crist and the Florida Hospital Association say the high number of uninsured is causing a ''crisis'' that's costing state and local taxpayers more every year. In 2006, the year for which the most recent statistics are available, the uninsured accounted for 8.6 percent of in-patient admissions, costing more than $2.3 billion to treat with little compensation.

''We have to do something,'' said Sen. Nan Rich, a Democratic senator from Sunrise.

Bob Wychulis, president/CEO of Florida Association of Health Plans, said insurers like both House and Senate proposals because they offer ''flexibility'' and freedom from government requirements.

The plans also would allow insurers to allow parents to cover children until they reach age 30 -- as opposed to the more typical 25. Covering this typically healthy group would allow the companies to collect more money than they pay out.

THE BENEFITS

Currently, insurers are required to provide 51 different benefits, from long-term hospital stays to diabetic treatments to mammograms to treatment for mental disorders. While the ''Cover Florida'' plans would still have to offer some mandatory coverage -- such as for diabetic supplies -- the extent and scope of the benefits still have to be worked out.

Gary Clarke, a healthcare attorney and former Florida Medicaid director, said the effectiveness of the plans will depend on what's offered. Still, he said, affordable health insurance plans like Crist's are nothing new, and the state has attempted to offer ''bare-stripped-naked'' plans, only to then decide: ``Let's add some stuff.''

Clarke said Crist's optimism about the benefits of his plan likely will conflict with the difficulties of the healthcare market.

''His glass is always half-full no matter how empty,'' Clarke said.

Though Blue Cross/Blue Shield has expressed reservations about the plan, Crist has said that he can't see who would oppose it.

GARNERING SUPPORT

On Tuesday, he touted the plan and unveiled the support of a number of business groups: the Florida Association of Realtors; the National Federation of Independent Businesses; the Florida Retail Federation and the Florida Association of Counties.

In the House, Rep. Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican, said members don't oppose the governor's plan. They want to expand it.

The House proposes setting up a public-private administrator to handle plans for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The administrator would resemble the state's HealthyKids Corp., which runs the KidCare program subsidizing children's health insurance.

Also, the House plan would allow religious organizations to offer a health insurance-type pool.

The governor's staff, however, has objected to the third-party administrator, saying the $1 million start-up pricetag is too high, considering that Crist's plan costs nothing.

Also, the House plan for small businesses places more insurance decisions in the hands of business owners, rather than employees. Crist's plan is far more voluntary.

Bean said the House plan will be changed in the coming days and that he hopes Crist will come on board.

''We're all trying to do the right thing,'' Bean said. ``It's just, how do we get there?''

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