There is a common misconception that health insurance Florida has to be expensive. That if you have a pre-existing condition, you cannot find any health insurance that will accept you into their exclusive club. That if you have children, it will cost twice as much due to the extra dependents. We have all been exposed to this same social conditioning. Everyone seems to feel as if there aren’t any options. Let’s find an average monthly cost for Health insurance that everyone can afford!
We will start with Pre-Existing Conditions. These will typically make people ineligible or tremendously expensive if they are (eligible). There is a health insurance program created by our legislators called Cover Florida Health Care Access Program. This gives over 3.8 million uninsured Floridians access to affordable health coverage with pre-existing conditions. All Floridians are eligible if between 19 – 65 years old, are not eligible forMedicaid or Medicare and have not had health insurance for the past 6 months. If you have had health insurance in the past 6 months, but have lost your job, went through a divorce, death of a spouse, etc. you can still be eligible. If you go to their website and click on FAQs you can get additional information on eligibility. They offer a few different styles of plans for the different counties in Florida, so your best bet if you have a pre-existing is to visit their website and click on “Available Plans”. The average monthly cost for health insurance of this type ranges from $50 for preventative plans to $150 a month for catastrophic plans. These are wonderful options that the great State Of Florida provides and we should take advantage of them.
The next misconception is that children create a large additional expense to a health insurance policy. Lucky for us Floridians, there is KidCare to the rescue! KidCare or Medicaid for Children is another fantastic resource for extremely affordable health insurance for kids. If your child is under age 19, uninsured, is not eligible for Medicaid, is not the son/daughter of a state employee, or not in a public institution, they can find a home at KidCare. Would you believe there is No Charge ~$0~ for KidCare Medicaid? For other Florida KidCare programs, the monthly premium will depend on your household size and income, but most families will only pay $15-$20 a month. Now you don’t need to include your children on your grown-up policies saving you Big Dollars! Their website ishttp://www.FloridaKidCare.org where you can find more information on how to get started and even apply online.
The remaining Floridians who aren’t children and don’t have pre-existing conditions have the most options available for Health insurance. There are many different companies writing in Florida for HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations). The best thing you can do is get a quote for health insurance right now. Health insurance rates can change weekly, so to ensure you are getting to best price, you should compare plans every 12 months (no more than 12 months because then you will never meet your deductible for the year). If you are in-between jobs, temporary health insurance is an even better value. You can cancel at any time and you will usually get a cheaper rate for a 1-6 month policy than with a 12 month policy.
I hope these resources help all those who used to think health insurance was too expensive or simply unattainable.