TALLAHASSEE—House Health chief Aaron Bean said he will make changes to his insurance proposal after listening to concerns from Gov. Charlie Crist, state regulators and even members of his own party. One change: employers would no longer be able to require that workers buy health insurance as a condition of employment. Bean’s bill, CS/HB 7081, will be debated by the House today. Meanwhile, Crist continues a full-court press for his own plan, Cover Florida.

 

Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, wants to create a voluntary, virtual marketplace where employers who join could give their workers access to stripped-down health plans from insurance companies, HMOs or even providers such as dentists. The program would be governed by a 15-member corporation, which Bean said would need about $1.2 million in state funding to become operational. He called it "a small price to pay" for expanding health care access to Florida’s people.

 

After criticism that the board would be governed by insurers, health-care providers and others who may have a vested interest, Bean said he agreed to add a representative from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to the board.

The OIR and governor's office have expressed concerns that Bean's health care marketplace proposal would compete with Cover Florida, Crist's own plan for providing health insurance. That plan would allow the state to negotiate with health insurance companies to provide flexible benefit plans for about $150 a month, without any cost to the state.

 

But Bean says his plan doesn’t compete with Crist’s. "We think there is room for both, there is a need for both,'' he said. “One plan will not cover everybody; two plans will not cover everybody."

Cover Florida, which the Senate passed unanimously Wednesday, is expected to be endorsed today by the Florida Medical Association. FMA lobbyist Jeff Scott said Florida doctors share the governor's concerns with the 3.8 million uninsured residents and the burden that their unpaid medical bills put on the delivery system. "The FMA certainly supports the governor's efforts," Scott said.

Christine Jordan Sexton, Tallahassee correspondent for Florida Health News, can be reached at cjordansexton@hotmail.com.