Fla. Gov Signs Health Insurance Bill

Some uninsured Florida residents may get easier access to health care coverage under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Charlie Crist.

The new law lets insurance companies offer scaled-back health plans without all the usually required coverages. That might make insurance available to some people for as little as $150 a month, Crist said.

Under the law, some insurance companies will join a state program in which they are required to cover many basic health care needs, such as drugs, emergency care and hospitalization, but won't be required to pay for many treatments that insurers generally must cover. Among those might be mandated coverages like certain screenings, or coverage of certain transplants. Insurers said those requirements contribute to rising health care costs.

"It is not the Cadillac of health plans, but it offers something very, very important for the citizens of our state," the governor said. Shrinking the number of people in Florida without health insurance, now about 3.8 million, has been one of Crist's top priorities.

The state program, known as "Cover Florida," will be open to uninsured people ages 19-64. Children and the elderly wouldn't need it since they're generally eligible for other government programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and the state's KidCare subsidized insurance program. To participate, someone has to have been uninsured for six months.

The new law will also allow insurers who don't participate in the state "Cover Florida" program to also make changes that may let them provide cheaper policies. Under that part of the law, organizations and insurance companies would be allowed to offer scaled-back plans that have even fewer requirements than the ones participating in the state program.

Small businesses with less than 50 workers would be able to take advantage of a variety of insurance policy options - and things that aren't exactly insurance, like medical savings accounts - under that part of the law.

Some critics worried those plans might not offer enough consumer protections, but supporters said that plans that don't cover everything are better than no insurance at all.

State law generally has about 50 mandated coverages for most health insurance policies. They range from requirements that policies must cover some types of transplants to requirements for the number of days that women must be allowed to remain in the hospital after child birth.

Crist said he hopes the availability of cheaper coverage may reduce the number of people needing emergency care, because they will be more likely to treat problems early.

"One in five Floridians goes to bed at night worrying about how to pay for medical care," Crist said. "And they wait to go to the doctor until they have a medical emergency."

The bill also allows families with children who make too much money to participate in the KidCare program to pay full premiums and get the coverage through the program. It also requires insurance companies to offer families the option to keep unmarried adult children enrolled on their family health policy until age 30.

Government Clarifies Retiree Health Plans

Employers can reduce their health insurance expenses for retired workers once they turn 65 and qualify for Medicare, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has affirmed.

In essence, the rule published Wednesday formally authorizes the long-standing practice used by employers to take Medicare into account when structuring the health benefit packages they voluntarily provide their retired workers. It makes clear they can spend more on retirees under 65 years of age than those over 65 without running afoul of age discrimination laws.

In practice, retirees in both age groups might get essentially the same benefits, but it is less costly to the company for those over 65 because Medicare picks up much of the tab for them.

The EEOC said it proposed the rule in response to a decision in 2000 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit that held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act requires employers to spend the same amount on health insurance benefits provided Medicare-eligible retirees as those received by younger retirees.

The commission said that after the 2000 decision, labor unions and employers alike maintained that complying with the decision would result in companies reducing or eliminating the retiree health benefits they were providing - leaving millions of retirees under 65 with less health insurance, or no health insurance at all.

"In fact, that is what happened when the Erie County (Pa.) case was settled in March 2002," the EEOC said. "The county's plan gives older retirees the same benefit they had prior to the litigation, but requires younger retirees to pay more for health benefits that offer fewer choices."

The same federal appeals court that brought the original decision in 2000, ruled last June that the EEOC was authorized to issue exemptions if a strict interpretation of the age discrimination law would be contrary to the public interest.

"We recognize with some dismay that the proposed exemption may allow employers to reduce health benefits to retirees over the age of 65 while maintaining greater benefits for younger retirees," the court said. But it said the commission had shown that the exemption was "a reasonable, necessary and proper exercise" of its authority.

"Implementation of this rule is welcome news for America's retirees, whether young or old," Commission Chairwoman Naomi C. Earp said in a statement posted Wednesday on the commission's Internet site. "By this action, the EEOC seeks to preserve and protect employer-provided retiree health benefits which are increasingly less available and less generous. Millions of retirees rely on their former employer to provide health benefits, and this rule will help employers continue to voluntarily provide and maintain these critically important benefits in accordance with the law."