Like most other states, Florida offers few basic protections for consumers purchasing health insurance, according to a national report released Thursday.

The report, sponsored by Families USA, a Washington consumer group, found that strong lobbying efforts by the insurance industry have left ``consumers with a patchwork of protections that are inadequate as a whole and that vary greatly from state to state.''

Assisted by such protections, the health maintenance organizations of all large health insurers in Florida are solidly profitable, earning $641.5 million last year, although their overall profit margin is a slender 3.9 percent, according to state data.

Humana spokesman Mitchell Lubitz said Florida law offers consumers plenty of protections. ``Consumers who purchase individual health insurance, such as from Humana, are guaranteed to be able to renew their coverage by that health insurer for the rest of their life. In addition, Florida health insurers can't raise the premiums for insured individuals based on their health.''

State data show Humana raked in the most money in Florida in 2007, with $136.7 million in profit for Humana HMOs and another $56 million from its CarePlus subsidiary. Aetna was second, with $100 million in profit, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

''Very few states provide meaningful protection,'' said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. ``Florida doesn't distinguish itself as any better than most states around the country. Too many are subject to abusive practices.''

One example: Insurers refusing to cover ''preexisting conditions,'' which can range from back pain and cancer to high blood pressure and chronic indigestion.

Florida, like most states, does not limit how long coverage can exclude a preexisting condition. That means a person could have a policy for five years and still not be covered for, say, back pain.

There is also no state law to limit the years that insurers can search for a preexisting condition (finding back pain from 20 years ago), and there is no state standard for defining what makes for a preexisting condition, according to the Families USA study. Massachusetts, by contrast, has requirements for all of these issues.

Melissa Rayman of Plantation certainly understands the limitations of buying insurance in the individual market. A part-time employee after the birth of her first child with a self-employed husband, she found the only policy they could afford required $100 a month extra for pregnancy coverage.

Even then she wouldn't qualify for maternity benefits until she paid the premiums for 15 months.

What's more, it appears the policy won't cover a Cesarean section. Since she had a C-section with her first child, there's a good chance she would need another the next time she has a baby. ''That's like a $10,000 expense that'll come out of our pockets,'' Rayman said.

''This makes me so angry,'' she said. ``And my mother's even in a worse situation. She has breast cancer, and her policy covered cancer only up to $100,000. Thankfully, she had major medical, which took care of the rest. But now she has a policy with $50,000 deductible. Can you imagine?''

Like 45 other states, Florida also has no requirement that insurers spend at least 75 percent of premiums on healthcare.

The state did score good marks in the survey for having an appeal process for consumers whose coverage was revoked and making an external review process binding on disputes.

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