maybemaybenot
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cjenny
quote:
ORIGINAL: Level
Okay, health insurance.
I'm intrigued by what they're doing in Massachusetts. It has as its aim total coverage, but it still looks to be flexible.
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The law divides the population into three segments:
_The poorest, making less than the federal poverty level, are eligible for free care.
_People making slightly more, up to three times the federal poverty level, can enroll in state subsidized plans.
_Those making more than three times the federal poverty level — at least $30,630 for an individual and $61,950 for a family of four — can choose their own coverage from new, lower-cost private plans, if they aren't already insured through work.
Is this a reasonable starting point? Should it be a template for the rest of the country, or should each state be allowed to seek it's own unique plan?
Here's a link to a story on the Massachusetts plan:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070630/ap_on_he_me/massachusetts_health_care
I know very little about this 'stuff'. Is this sort of program put to a public vote? Or is it simply just implemented by those in charge?
And yup I think that if it works then other states ought to follow it. But that brings me back to the voting for it issue, there 'may' be better solutions. Some states have more under the poverty line than others which could effect that program.
I agree to with whomever said that at least one dollar should be the price even for those below the poverty line.
Right now I do not qualify for help. I cannot work but I have outside income of a whopping $16K a year, with that amount of income buying medication is a severe hardship for me. I pay over $1K a month in meds alone.
It feels that most people see those living on a small income are seen as lazy/uneducated. That makes it hard emotionally to ask for help. There IS a stigma attached to receiving state or government aid.
I am currently in the process of trying to receive state aid, it has taken 2 years to reach my first hearing. Sometimes I wonder if they keep that timeline hoping that the applicant will give up. It is tempting to, but I can't.
Next up? The tangle known as SSI.
Hmmm I ought to keep a journal on this journey of mine.
Thankies Level for the thought provoking post.
No, cjenny, we residents of the Commonwealth had zero say in this. All created and implemented by the legislature. Here is a decent link that outlines the program fairly well.
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070610/NEWS/706100493/1116
And don't think thsi new law treats everyone the same in regards to access and availablity of this Healthcare reform attempt:
"While younger people will have lower rates, the monthly premiums will not cover many medical costs if they become sick."
" Not all of the uninsured will be treated the same, with some paying nothing and others getting subsidized rates for the same insurance plans based on income. Age is a major factor in monthly premium rates, with older residents facing higher monthly insurance bills. "
"Meanwhile another estimated 65,000 uninsured will be exempt from penalties if they do not buy insurance, based on their incomes and an “affordability” scale included in the Connector’s new regulations. About 35,000 of those are individuals just below income guidelines for subsidized insurance who are offered coverage through their employers, according to state estimates. The remainder are people with incomes just above the level to qualify for subsidized monthly premiums, for whom state officials have decided the market-rate premiums are too costly. "
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070610/NEWS/706100493/1116
and of course, your location within the state will have a direct coresponence to what healthcare, if any you may get, despite your income being within the parameters:
"In one example used to explain the narrow exemption criteria, the staff of the connector board said a 37-year-old single person in Lexington with an adjusted gross income of $37,500 and no access to employer-sponsored insurance would be subject to the mandate because the affordability chart established by the board sets $200 as the amount that person should be able to afford.
A person with the same income from Great Barrington, however, would not be subject to the mandate because he does not have access to an insurance plan with a monthly premium under $200 in that area. "
"And last but not least this little pearl, AFTER we were sold the bill of goods based on specific numbers:
Currently the state is budgeting $472 million of state and federal subsidies in the next year to cover the cost of the program, including insurance subsidies for lower income individuals and families. Ms. Kirwan indicated it will be months before it is known whether actual costs meet or exceed that budget figure. The budget figure, she said, “was a well-reasoned guess” of expected costs"
http://www.telegram.com/article/20070627/NEWS/706270654/1116
A mandatory law based on a guess . Yup, that's about right for the fine boyz and girlz up there on Beacon Hill.
For those who don't read the links, this law does not provide free healthcare. Many people who are going to be mandated to purchase the government sanctioned health insurance will have 70/30 plans and deductables that are still outside of their ability to pay, based on salary and cost of living.
It's interesting that the older population who generally require more healthcare and have more serious chronic illness will actually pay more for their plan, more for their co pays, more for any hospitalizations and have lesser incomes than many getting the better state mandated plans.
Call me a pessimist, but this stinks of the Mass. Legislatures continued pillow talk with the insurance companies. They did it with auto insurance, and they are doing it again. We are the only state in the union that can not have competitive auto insurance prices. They car insurance rates have been set by the legislature.
mbmbn
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