Legislation in Massachusetts, awaiting the governor's signature, could possible break th logjam of how to provide insured healthcare to all citizens. The legislation is modelled on the principle underlying car insurance - you own a car, you must have insurance.
Here's the NY Times article Massachusetts Sets Health Plan for Nearly All - New York Times and here's the Washington Post article Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage . The times will only be available for free for a week, while the Post should always be available. Here's an excerpt from the NY Times article:
"The bill does what health experts say no other state has been able to do: provide a mechanism for all of its citizens to obtain health insurance. It accomplishes that in a way that experts say combines methods and proposals from across the political spectrum, apportioning the cost among businesses, individuals and the government.
"This is probably about as close as you can get to universal," said Paul B. Ginsburg, president of the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington. "It's definitely going to be inspiring to other states about how there was this compromise. They found a way to get to a major expansion of coverage that people could agree on. For a conservative Republican, this is individual responsibility. For a Democrat, this is government helping those that need help."
The bill, the product of months of wrangling between legislators and the governor, requires all Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage by July 1, 2007.
Individuals who can afford private insurance will be penalized on their state income taxes if they do not purchase it. Government subsidies to private insurance plans will allow more of the working poor to buy insurance and will expand the number of children who are eligible for free coverage. Businesses with more than 10 workers that do not provide insurance will be assessed up to $295 per employee per year.
All told, the plan is expected to cover 515,000 uninsured people within three years, about 95 percent of the state's uninsured population..."
Now the devil is in the details, and the details on how they're doing this have not been worked out. Nevertheless, I am sure that this program will be closely watched over the next few years. The bill was bi-partisan - passing unanimously in the MA. state senate and with only 2 no votes in their house.
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