Insurance
FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE WEBSITE:
To find health insurance plans in your community, go to
www.HealthCare.gov.
FLORIDA DEPT. OF FINANCIAL SERVICES:
The Office of Insurance Regulation at the Florida Department
of Financial Services regulates the insurance industry in
Florida. You can call their toll-free helpline at (800)
342-2762, or to view their websites click www.MyFloridaCFO.com or www.floir.com.
You can also request their publication “Health Insurance
– A Guide for Consumers” or view it on their
website.
HEALTH FLEX:
If you live in Broward, Hillsborough, Polk, Palm Beach or
Miami-Dade
County, you may be able to get health coverage through a Health Flex
plan. These plans provide basic and preventive health care coverage to
low-income uninsured people in Florida. For a list of the plans in
these counties and contact information click http://ahca.myflorida.com/MCHQ/Managed_Health_Care/Health_Flex/index.shtml.
HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS:
These are a type of health insurance with a low monthly
premium, but a very high deductible (a premium is what you pay for the
insurance and a deductible is what you pay for health care
services). To have a health savings account you
can’t be covered by any other insurance, including Medicare
and Medicaid. In this type of account you put your own money
into a special tax-free, interest earning trust called a Health Savings
Account, money that can then be used towards the high insurance
deductible.
For more information or to find out about health savings
accounts offered in
Florida, call the Florida Dept. of Financial Services toll-free number
(800)
342-2762, or to view their website click www.MyFloridaCFO.com.
Information
can also be found on the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury website, click www.treasury.gov.
KIDCARE:
Florida KidCare is a health insurance program for uninsured
children under age 19. For more information or to apply call
the toll-free
number (888)540-5437 or
TTY (877) 316-8748, or
to view their website
click www.FloridaKidCare.org.
MEDICAID:
The Florida Medicaid program provides medical coverage
for Florida residents who meet the program’s low-income
eligibility requirement. This
mostly includes children, pregnant women, disabled adults, and
seniors. Applications
for Medicaid are made through the Florida Department of Children and
Families
(DCF). To learn more call the DCF toll-free number (866) 762-2237, or
to view
their website click www.dcf.state.fl.us.
In addition, the Medically Needy program is for people with
extremely high medical
bills but whose income is too high to qualify for traditional Medicaid.
The
program mostly covers people who have experienced a very serious
illness and
either have no health insurance or have exhausted their
benefits. For more
information contact the DCF toll-free number (866)
762-2237.
MEDICARE:
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for
people who are age 65 or older, disabled persons, or those with
end-stage kidney
disease. For more information call the toll-free number (800)
633-4227
or TTY (877) 486-2048,
or to view the website click www.Medicare.gov.
SHINE:
The SHINE program (Serving Health Insurance Needs of
Elders), at the Florida Dept. of Elder Affairs (DOEA), provides
counseling to
seniors regarding health insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid,
long-term care
insurance, prescription assistance programs, and other health insurance
issues.
The program also provides counseling to people on Medicare due to
disability
or end-stage kidney disease. For information call the Elder Care
Helpline toll-free
number at (800) 963-5337.
For more information on SHINE and
other DOEA
programs view their websites by clicking http://ElderAffairs.state.fl.us
or www.FloridaShine.org.
SMALL BUSINESS:
The Florida Department of Financial Services
(the Office of Insurance Regulation) is the agency that regulates the
insurance
industry. They have information about plans that are
available to companies
with only one employee. You can contact their toll-free helpline at (800)
342-2762,
or to view their websites click www.MyFloridaCFO.com
or www.floir.com.
YOUNG ADULTS
In Florida a young adult can continue health insurance
coverage under a parent’s health insurance plan until they
are age 30, if they meet certain conditions. The young adult has to be
unmarried, have no children, have been covered by the
parents’ health insurance, and not have other health
insurance coverage. He or she doesn't need to live in their parents'
home, but needs to live in Florida. For more information call the
Florida Department of Financial Services toll-free number (800)342-2762.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Be sure to look at the other topics listed
in the Medical Help Section by clicking Referral Links.