A success rate of less than a tenth of a percent might not sound like much, but
to Gov. Charlie Crist it's campaign-trail bragging material for healthcare
reform.
Crist's new Cover Florida healthcare proposal has signed up only 3,757 people
in a state with nearly four million uninsured. Meantime, an estimated 77,250
Floridians have lost health-insurance coverage since Cover Florida began
releasing statistics in March.
Yet Crist touts Cover Florida as a ``national model'' and as a private-sector
alternative to the government-run insurance plans of congressional Democrats and
President Barack Obama.
``What's happening in Washington, I don't agree with,'' Crist said recently.
``We found a better way in Florida, by wanting to include the private sector to
participate more.''
Under Cover Florida, Crist's administration persuaded insurance companies to
offer stripped-down health plans for stripped down prices. The more coverage a
person receives, the more he pays. That, Crist says, gives consumers more choice
and less government.
Crist's government-is-the-problem tone, which has become more pronounced as
he began stumping for U.S. Senate, contrasts sharply with the approach he took
to stabilize insurance rates on homes, businesses and other properties in 2007.
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--Marc Caputo
