Make Premiums Affordable

Even if you have health insurance, the cost of premiums seems to go in one direction: up. Nearly 800,000 Floridians have no health insurance at all because the premiums are way more than they can afford. Some families who earn as little as $7,000 a year make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little for tax credits in the health care marketplace. And adults without children don’t qualify for Medicaid, no matter how little they make. For these Floridians to obtain health insurance, the price tag for their insurance could be as much as their yearly salary. That’s absurd! And impossible.  

We need to protect patients from surprise medical bills. Floridians should know what they are paying for medical costs in advance, and the cost of medical procedures should never limit someone’s access to health care. Florida should implement a public health care price transparency database and waive or reduce cost-sharing for high-value services.