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Insurers Want Fewer Rules To Lower Costs

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 18, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist are trying to find a way to get coverage for more of the nearly 4 million Floridians without health insurance, but how successful they are may depend on how much leeway they're willing to give insurance companies to craft low-cost plans.

The House on Thursday debated a wide-ranging proposal that tries to encourage the creation of cheap health insurance plans in several ways. The most significant proposal to reduce costs is a plan that would free insurance companies from having to cover many of the types of care they normally must cover under the law.

For example, state law currently requires coverage of AIDS treatments if you contract the disease after you already have insurance.

House leaders and Crist agree that low-cost plans could have only a few mandated coverages, including emergency room care and hospitalization. Without such mandates, some companies say they might be able to insure people for as low as $150 a month, Crist said.

The Associated Press

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