September 21, 2010. Orlando Sentinel. Most of Florida’s major health insurers have stopped writing new “child-only” insurance policies — some pulling out of the market just days before the health-care overhaul requires insurers to provide full coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions.
In Florida, insurers Cigna, Humana, Aetna, United Healthcare and Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Florida have stopped writing new policies for children-only.
The alleged reason? Insurers say they worry that, under a new mandate that takes effect Thursday, parents will wait until a child is seriously ill to buy insurance.
“At this point, I do not believe there is any carrier in Florida selling child-only policies,” said Randy Kammer, vice president of regulatory affairs and public policy for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. “The last carrier pulled out last week.”
Child-only policies are often purchased in one of three situations: by families where the parents’ employers don’t contribute to dependent care, by parents who can’t afford to insure themselves or by those who can’t get their own coverage but want to cover their kids.
