How does the health insurance picture in Florida compare to other places in the country? A national survey of employer-provided health plans shows a picture that isn’t rosy for Floridians.
Single coverage — for an employee only. In the United States, employees enrolled in health insurance coverage through their employer were just as likely to sign up for single, self-only coverage (50.0 percent) as they were to sign up for coverage that includes other family members. In Florida and California, however, employees were more likely to take coverage that covers themselves only — not other family members. In Florida, 55.1 percent of people were enrolled in single coverage, while 52.8 percent of Californians signed up for single coverage.
Wonder why? Keep reading.
For those who sign up for family coverage, Floridians pay an average of $4,275 a year — or 33.1 percent of the premium — for their family policies, compared to the national average of $3,474 or 26.7 percent of the premium toward their family coverage health insurance premiums.
How does that compare to other states? Employees in Pennsylvania pay $2,774 or 21.0 percent of the family premium, while employees in Michigan pay $2,819 or 21.4 percent of the premium. In New York, employees who sign up for family coverage pay an average of $3,034 a year or 22.1 percent of the premium — less than the national average.
Likewise, when it comes to “employee-plus-one” coverage — for an employee and one family member — Floridians again got the short end of the stick.
In Michigan, employees who signed up for that coverage paid an average of $1,882 or 19.6 percent of the premium. In New Jersey, employees with employee-plus-one coverage paid $2,047 or 22.3 percent of the premium.– which was also less than the national average of $2,363 or 26.1 percent of the premium. Employees in Florida paid an average of $2,700 or 31.0 percent of the premium — more than the national average. People in Georgia who signed up for employee-plus-one coverage also paid more than the national average — getting hit for 28.5 percent of the premium.
The information came from the MEPS-IC, a survey of business establishments and governments that collects information on employer-sponsored health insurance, such as whether insurance is offered, enrollments, types of plans, and premiums. The survey is conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau under the sponsorship of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A total sample of 42,000 private sector establishments was selected for the 2009 survey.
Project Wings offers the Special Needs and Physically Disabled community in the greater Orlando area a place where individuals, parents and caregivers can find the resources they need to enhance the quality of life of their special needs children and siblings, and celebrate these amazing Central Florida families and its individual members. 