Hatched in 2008 when Marco Rubio held power in the state Capitol, the Florida Health Choices program expects to start offering health-insurance plans to small businesses in July 2012.
Chairman Aaron Bean on Friday acknowledged frustrations with the pace of Florida Health Choices, which supporters have long touted as a new type of "marketplace" for buying health coverage. But he also said officials want to make sure it is developed correctly.
"We're building this from absolute scratch,'' said Bean, a former Republican House member from Fernandina Beach. "We're building a new marketplace.''
The Florida Health Choices board met Friday and continued trying to resolve issues needed to move forward. The latest: a dispute with a key contractor about loading information into an online portal that will serve as the program's backbone.
Florida Health Choices said earlier this year that it hoped to start offering coverage in 2011. But under the latest timeline, employees of small businesses would be able to start enrolling in insurance plans in May and June, with coverage taking effect in July.
Nevertheless, Bean pointed to what he indicated are encouraging signs. As an example, 11 health plans -- including major insurers such as Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and UnitedHealthcare -- have indicated interest in taking part.
"We have big companies, we have small companies, we have companies all over the state,'' Bean said.
Lawmakers approved creating Florida Health Choices in 2008 when Rubio, now a U.S. senator and national political figure, served as state House speaker. The basic concept is to create an online market that will allow people to shop for coverage with more flexibility than in the traditional insurance system.
But some critics have long questioned the program because they fear it will lead to people buying inadequate health coverage.
Initially, Florida Health Choices would be available to businesses with four to 50 employees and would offer coverage in the small-group insurance market. After businesses sign up, their employees would be able to choose among different coverage plans.
In the future, Florida Health Choices would also be available to businesses with fewer than four employees. Also, it would offer types of health coverage that are not traditional insurance, such as allowing people to buy certain amounts of visits to doctors or clinics.
Parts of the insurance industry have closely followed the development of Florida Health Choices, with Michael Garner, president of Florida Association of Health Plans, serving as chairman of a "vendor steering committee.''
Also, insurance agents have worked to make sure they don't get left out when people start buying coverage through Florida Health Choices.
"We're very anxious to see what the portal looks like and how it works,'' Tim Meenan, a lobbyist for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors-Florida, said during the board meeting Friday.
Even if Florida Health Choices begins operating in July, however, it could face questions because of the 2010 federal health overhaul. That law -- which Florida and other states are challenging in the U.S. Supreme Court -- requires each state to have a health insurance "exchange,'' which is a similar concept to Florida Health Choices.
Florida Republican leaders, who adamantly oppose the federal health law championed by President Obama, have refused to create an exchange. But it is unclear how Florida will comply with the exchange requirement if the Supreme Court upholds the 2010 law.
Florida Health Choices officials are trying to distance themselves from the federal requirement.
"We're not an Obamacare exchange,'' said Bean, who plans to run for a Northeast Florida Senate seat in 2012.
