I have been following the Massachusetts legislation. In fact, I've posted eight times about the program. I thought it was a promising initiative. Here are two of the postings, including the original one in April, 2006. Massachusetts mandates health coverage . And here's a second one - Update on Massachusetts universal health plan .
The problem has been - no surprise - paying for it.
But the NYT says it's not a real problem.
Editorial - The Massachusetts Model - NYTimes.com
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a non-partisan research group, recently concluded that the cost of achieving near universal coverage “has been relatively modest and well within early projections of how much the state would have to spend to implement reform.” That is heartening news given that the major features of the Massachusetts reforms are similar to those under consideration in Washington.
Then they say this -
There have been growing pains and glitches. The initially generous insurance benefits had to be scaled back to keep costs manageable. Cigarette taxes had to be raised to help pay for the reform. The number of people reporting problems paying medical bills and gaining access to care, after falling sharply, has begun to rise again. Tens of thousands of people who make too much to qualify for subsidies have to be exempted from the mandate each year on the grounds that they cannot afford to buy insurance. People just above the exemption level who lack employer coverage often face what they consider very high premiums.
Such problems are a warning perhaps that subsidies need to be extended higher up the income range. Massachusetts gives subsidies to families of four earning $66,000 a year, while pending Congressional bills would provide subsidies for those earning up to $88,000. That could mean added strain on government budgets.
So we are supposed to subsidize families making $88,000/yr? Where will this end? Who is going to pay?
I expect the Wall Street Journal, which has been critical of the Massachusetts Plan because off the expense, will have an editorial about the NYT editorial, and I will post it.
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