Florida Officials Discuss Strategies For Reducing Number Of Uninsured Residents

Florida Rep. Holly Benson (R) and more than 200 health care officials from the American Medical Association, Wal-Mart, Microsoft and other organizations met at Broward General Medical Center on Thursday to discuss strategies for encouraging people to buy health insurance in order to reduce the number of uninsured residents in the state, including a program that allows individuals to earn airline miles for exercising, the Miami Herald reports. Humana is offering the program, called HealthMiles Plus, through a partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Participants in the program wear a device called GoZone to record their activity levels, which are then posted online and converted to points in their accounts. Elizabeth Bierbower, vice president of product innovation at Humana, said the program was designed to “attract people from the uninsured pool and try to give people back something who are purchasing health insurance.” Attendees also discussed encouraging small businesses to offer health savings accounts for employees to purchase health insurance. Alan Levine, president and CEO of the North Broward Hospital District, said about 20% of the Florida population is uninsured. Benson said ideas from the discussion could be used to write future legislation (Carey, Miami Herald, 11/10).

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