Employed Enrollment Florida Health Insurance Open

Fort Lauderdale extends health insurance to domestic partners

The City of Fort Lauderdale unanimously passed health insurance for domestic partners of its employees Wednesday.

Miriam Richter, a local trademark attorney, spearheaded the campaign to get the benefits extended.

“I needed a group [insurance] plan.  I just decided it was about time that the City of Fort Lauderdale got into the 21 century.  I can’t buy a group plan because there’s no such thing as a group of one,” she said.

Richter is a self-employed attorney whose medical insurance coverage end in November.  Her partner of 17 years is a city employee.

To get the ball rolling, Richter met with Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.  He asked her to put together a report detailing the costs associated with adding domestic partners to the current health plan.  It took some time, but once the data was collected, the item was put on the city’s agenda for its July meeting.

At that meeting, City Manager Lee Feldman advised the commission that giving employees the option of adding domestic partners to the City’s self-insured employee health insurance plan could be done with minimal impact on the plan. And while there were some commissioners who spoke out against the idea, in the end, the commission agreed to draft a resolution, which was then passed Wednesday. Benefits will go in to effect January 1.

After it passed Richter was ecstatic. “I’m very happy. I’m in a state of disbelief.  I grew up in New York City, where you can’t just call the mayor’s office. I’m very reassured that we have a system of government that lets us have an impact. The city of Fort Lauderdale is very approachable, they make themselves available, they listen and do the right thing.” Now Richter is ready to take advantage of the new benefits.

“As soon as open enrollment comes around my partner said ‘whatever they offer you’re on it,’” Richter said.

Richter said she didn’t do it by herself. Others such as former mayor of Broward county Ken Keechl and President and Founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Rand Hoch also played a role.

Florida Self Employed Health Insurance | Information on Health ...

Florida residents that are self employed and looking for health insurance have a number of options available to them. Be aware that depending upon your health, your age, and other factors unique to your particular situation there is no hard and fast rule as to which option is best for you. However, there are some general guidelines that will help you make the best Florida self employed health insurance decision.

The first Florida health insurance option available to the self employed is to simply apply for an individual health insurance policy. The benefit to applying for an individual health insurance policy is that individual health insurance rates in Florida are very competitive.

The downside to attempting to purchase an individual health insurance policy in the state of Florida is that you must be healthy. According to FL law, a health insurance company can decline your application for an individual health insurance policy. (Any unscrupulous agent that tries to tell you other wise is misrepresenting whatever product he or she is trying to sell you as health insurance when in fact it is probably a discount health plan or a health insurance indemnity plan with very limited coverage).