"Miami-Dade County is a national model for making healthcare more affordable and accessible for residents through our investment in primary care and low cost insurance," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez.  "But even with all of its success, we knew Miami-Dade Blue couldn't reach all of the uninsured.  Premium assistance will help us reach even more people who are priced out of the health insurance market."

HIUP is part of an innovative pilot created through a partnership with the Health Foundation of South Florida, Baptist Health Systems, Jackson Memorial Foundation and Miami-Dade's Federally Qualified Health Centers and supported with funds from Florida's Low Income Pool (LIP) program that has allotted $500,000 to incentivize approximately 400 low- to moderate-income Miami-Dade County residents.  The program will have limited enrollment beginning July 14 - 23.  The amount of incentive each participant will receive will depend on the individual's household income and premium. 

"Miami-Dade is the only county in Florida receiving this funding to aid residents in purchasing a licensed insurance product," said Janet Perkins, Director of Miami-Dade County's Office of Countywide Healthcare Planning. "We are excited about this new opportunity to help the uninsured in our community, as well as continuing our successful partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida."