As a growing number of small businesses in Florida are dropping health coverage because they can no longer afford it, the state's leading insurer announced today new health plans aimed at dramatically cutting the costs of insurance for small businesses.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida has come up with several ideas intended to limit coverage but able to protect persons from huge losses.
''This is to protect yourself from bankruptcy -- the really catastrophic stuff,'' said BCBS spokeswoman Valerie Rubin.
The offerings could reduce employer costs by 30 to 70 percent, the company said. The exact amount depends on the age and sex of employees as well as previous medical conditions.
The issue is huge because small business coverage in the state has been plummeting. Studies by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the number of small employers in the state that offer health insurance dropped from 266,000 in 1996 to 123,000 in 2004 -- a decline of 53 percent.
Measuring health plans, enrollment in small groups dropped 42 percent -- from nearly 1.8 million to just over 1 million during that period, while Florida's population grew by three million.
These numbers ''provide a worrisome glimpse into how far the healthcare crisis has come in a single, large state,'' says Brian Klepper of the Center for Practical Health Reform. ``There is little reason to believe that the dynamics are not approximately the same throughout the rest of the U.S.''
Klepper says the figures show Florida's small group plan enrollment ``has eroded, on average, by about 5.3 percent (95,000 lives) per year. This number is significantly higher than the 3.0 percent year national drop in private sector jobs with health benefits during the same period reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2004.''
In BCBS's plans announced Monday, one will cover only the most costly events -- inpatient hospitalizations and outpatient surgeries.
Another would provide comprehensive coverage, with deductibles and co-pays for basic family physician visits and generic drugs. Everything else, including hospitalizations, would require the patient to pay a 50 percent co-insurance but the rates would be those negotiated by BCBS, which are about a third of the gross charges that the uninsured are usually hit with after hospital stays.
Another plan would be based on health savings accounts, similar to 401(k) plans, in which people can set aside money in tax-free savings accounts for future health expenses. This plan is combined with a high-deductible and co-pays. Many other companies are also offering HSA plans.
The plans are intended to help smaller businesses, many of which have been dropping health coverage in recent years as insurance premiums keep going up by more than 10 percent a year.
As part of its motivation, BCBS cited surveys by the Florida Chamber Federation, which showed that 91 percent of Florida businesses offered health benefits in 1999. This year the chamber says only 63 percent will over coverage.
Rubin said later the products will be introduced into the market for individual purchasers.
