News in brief - Dec. 29, 2008

Cover Florida program begins

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed contracts with six insurance firms Dec. 10, 2008, to offer basic health coverage to adults who have been uninsured for six months or who recently have become unemployed, even if they have preexisting conditions.

Beginning Jan. 5, the insurance companies are offering 25 different health plans under the Cover Florida program. Fourteen plans have average monthly premiums of $155 or less, Crist said. "Affordable access to health care will be a reality for Florida's hard-working families and businesses," he added.

Cover Florida plans are not subsidized by the state and must offer at least catastrophic hospital coverage and preventive care. Two insurers offer statewide plans; the others focus on particular counties. Florida has about 3.8 million uninsured adults.

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Budget cuts reducing state health coverage

Cuts to Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program have eliminated coverage for nearly 275,000 people, and proposed cuts could end coverage for an additional 763,000 people, according to a report released Dec. 11, 2008, by Families USA. Nineteen states have enacted or proposed cuts for fiscal 2009 or 2010, according to the report, "A Painful Recession: States Cut Health Care Safety Net Programs."

California accounted for the vast majority of reductions cited in the report. A new requirement that California parents re-enroll their children in Medicaid every six months instead of annually is expected to lead to 260,000 children losing coverage by 2011. Proposed cuts could cost an additional 160,000 children and 430,000 adults their Medicaid or SCHIP coverage, the report said.

The National Governors Assn. has asked Congress to increase the federal medical assistance percentage -- which determines the federal government's contribution to Medicaid spending -- for at least two years, though the NGA did not recommend a specific amount. "As governors work to reduce budget shortfalls and plan for the coming fiscal year, we need to be partners in an economic recovery strategy that includes additional funding for Medicaid and investments in infrastructure," said NGA Vice Chair Jim Douglas, who is Vermont's governor.

The Families USA report is online (www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/a-painful-recession.html).

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