With nearly three million residents lacking health insurance and increasing numbers of employers dropping or reducing coverage to workers because of rising costs, you would think the topic would get some attention from state policymakers. Sadly, health insurance is not even in the top three insurance issues as Florida officials try to tackle rising property insurance costs, decide the future of no-fault, and figure out what to do with the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

But for a few hours in August in Miami, some state officials actually talked about reforming the state's woeful health system. But don't get any crazy ideas about Florida following Massachusetts, Wisconsin, or California — states where governors have made health reform job number one.

Rather, this meeting was nothing more than the little-known Florida Health Insurance Advisory Board, a 13-member group of state health and insurance officials along with representatives from insurers, employers, and agents. They were seeking public input on how to fix a health system that costs too much and delivers too little. So naturally, they held their meeting in the dog days of summer at 10 a.m. on a Monday at a hotel only convenient to people planning flights out of Miami International Airport. That meant the conference was great for 10 of the board members flying in from Tallahassee and Jacksonville. But it did little for all five "citizens" who showed up at the hearing.