Democrats ♥ Charlie Crist

You know, I've got mixed feelings about this Crist fella. He sure sounds like a Democrat sometimes, and he definitely has a lot of Democratic fans ...

First off, Gov. Crist has a proposal for creating a broad-based, low-cost health insurance program that significantly would expand coverage for children. And you know it's probably a good proposal, because the insurers don't like it.

His proposal for cheap health insurance would eliminate all of the 50-plus mandates now required, such as including chiropractors and acupuncturists in any coverage. The plans would be required to guarantee coverage to all uninsured Floridians age 19 to 64. Crist said the cost would be $150 a month.

Insurers disagree. Randy Kammer, a government relations expert for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, said, "We applaud the opportunity to have that flexibility" of eliminating mandates, but she feared only the sick who couldn't get other coverage would buy into the plan, creating a high-risk pool that the cheap premiums couldn't cover.

Crist also proposed spending $63.9 million over the next three years to create a pilot partnership with hospitals, county health departments and healthcare providers to support primary care services in neighborhoods with high rates of uninsured.

Coverage of children would be expanded in two ways:

• By removing the "full-pay cap" in the Florida KidCare program, all uninsured children in the state, regardless of family income level, could become eligible for insurance through the state program, with parents paying a sliding scale premium based on income level.

• The state would require insurers to allow nonstudent dependents, who generally lose coverage at 19, to stay on their parents' policies until they are 30.

This is a decent start. It's too bad it's just lip service, since the likelihood of any even marginally positive insurance proposal passing the wingnut-dominated Florida legislature is roughly equal to that of Mike Huckabee admitting that humans didn't co-exist with dinosaurs. Moreover, it's certainly not ideal (which, in my opinion, is a single-payer system that insures everyone), as some health care experts point out:

Becky Cherney, president of the Florida Health Care Coalition, a Central and South Florida employer health group, had another reaction to the governor's plan. "Everyone needs a good laugh once in a while," said Cherney. She said the governor deserves credit for trying. But she's skeptical that without state funding the plan will make a big dent in the numbers of uninsured Floridians.

For one thing, skimpy health insurance policies rarely attract many buyers because they don't think the coverage is valuable, said Paul Gionfriddo, a national expert on the uninsured and CEO of the West Palm Beach-based Quantum Foundation. "Stripped-down plans that don't cover the things people need most often are of limited value to people with chronic health conditions who have greater needs," he said.

But I guess for now, we'll take what we can get.

Meanwhile, a lot of Democrats really, really like Gov. Crist (have they forgotten about his zealous support of Amendment 1 and of Huggy Bear?) ...

"I'm looking forward to working with you well into the future in whatever level of politics you attain," said state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. Aronberg, who gave one of the speeches introducing Crist, called him "the nicest man in politics."

"I'm a big fan of Charlie," U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, said in a prerecorded introduction. "He has kept his promise to put the people of Florida first and politics second. ... The civility that Charlie Crist brings to politics in Florida is a model to the nation."

The taped Wexler was introduced by freshman U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, who appeared in person.

Okay, I'll admit that Crist is much better than his predecessor. Then again, so is anal leakage.

Look, I'm more than willing to give Crist credit for his efforts to be less doctrinaire about his conservatism ... but as long as he ties himself to Warmonger McCain and as long as he keeps that "R" beside his name, I'm going to resist smooching his ass for now.