Public Still Doesn't Like Insurance Mandate

(MoneyWatch)  Less than 15 percent of registered voters support, and 53 percent oppose requiring every American to provide proof of private health insurance or face tax penalties or other fines, according to a new poll by Consumer Watchdog, a consumer protection group that has been active since 1985.

While the survey was conducted in response to a new reform plan from AHIP, the insurance industry association, Consumer Watchdog said the results were also a warning to the Obama Administration. President-Elect Obama supported only a mandate to cover all children during his election campaign; but Tom Daschle, his choice for HHS Secretary and for leader of a new healthcare reform office, left the door open for an individual mandate in his book Critical: What We Can Do About The Healthcare Crisis.

Under AHIP's proposal, the insurance companies would guarantee coverage to everyone who could pay for it in return for a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance. If it turns out that a universal mandate is politically infeasible, the carriers would probably withdraw their support for insurance reform.

In 2006, Massachusetts adopted a reform plan requiring everyone in that state to buy insurance or pay a tax penalty; and, despite some problems, the reform approach is still popular with the public. On the other hand, California voters overwhelmingly opposed the individual mandate in Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposal, according to a poll conducted in January 2008 by the Campaign for Consumer Rights, an affiliate of Consumer Watchdog.

Meanwhile, Florida is experimenting with an approach that offers consumers relatively low-cost coverage without requiring them to purchase it. Under Governor Charlie Crist's Cover Florida health initiative, 3.8 million uninsured Floridians will have the option to buy supposedly affordable plans, starting January 5.

Six carriers have agreed to offer 25 different packages. Costs average $155 per month, and vary from $51 to $290 monthly, depending on where in Florida the insurance is purchased and whether it covers "preventive" or "catastrophic" care. In one "catastrophic" plan offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, the family deductible is $3,000.

The new lean and mean plans are not available to all of the uninsured. To be eligible, they have to be 19 to 64, and out of work or uninsured for at least six months. Presumably, they must also be ineligible for Medicaid.

The price tags of the Cover Florida plans are certainly modest compared with the average cost of health insurance, which now tops $1,000 a month for a family. But low-income people may have trouble coming up with even $51 a month. And one wonders what is actually covered in these mini-plans.

It all points to a major challenge for Obama and Congress as they draw up concrete reform proposals for the nation.