universal healthcare

[Roland]

Massachusetts likes their health care, and I suspect the rest of the US is going to come to like their very similar care quite soon.

Those who were smart (cynical) hated it from day one. Those were were naive (ignorant) loved it... for the first two years. Now the dirt pile has grown into a mountain under the rug - can't sweep it under there anymore.

1) Insurance companies are jacking up rates in the league of 15% - 45% for businesses to cover the "costs" of MassHealth.

2) Medical providers are refusing to accept MassHealth due to a multitude of issues - most notably late / absent payment by the provider.

3) Only those who fall below their wage caps qualify for MassHealth (under 300% of Federal Poverty level - that's approximately $32,400 for a single person, and I think a cap of $66,000 for a family). Essentially, if you make enough to live in this state, you don't qualify for MassHealth. Buy your own health insurance or be fortunate enough to get it through your employer.

The state put the cart before the horse when they came out with MassHealth. They screwed up, on many fronts, but the most basic was not drafting legislation to control the insurance companies when they came out with the package. Personally, I'm not a fan of Obama-care, but then I'm cynical, and I'm coming from an enlightened position. I've seen what can go wrong first-hand when things are handled improperly, and in the rush to get this thing out the door I worry the same mistakes will be made. That's not to say I'm not in favor of change - I am. It just has to be the RIGHT change. Demanding health care for everyone is great, but if you don't fix the underlying issues, you're dooming everyone. From what little I've managed to glean off the net (mind you, I've put virtually no effort into this) it seems they've thought of some of this in advance, and are taking steps to ensure things go off more smoothly than they did here in Massachusetts. I hope that pragmatism continues. It will certainly be needed if this bill is going to do what those in favor of it hope it will do.

For myself, I'm not overly concerned about the federal level. The bill has passed, the stage is set. Whatever comes, comes. I have enough to worry about on a state level to not concern myself overly with the federal level.