Mass. Gov. mandates mandatory healthcare.
The Massachusetts legislature just approved a bill supported by Governor Mitt Romney(R) that requires all residents to purchase healthcare insurance or face legal penalties. This marks the first time that a state has attempted to regulate medical coverage by treating patients as if they were automobiles. All uninsured adults will have until July 1, 2007 to purchase health insurance or face a fine. "Can I see your Blue Cross card and proof of payment, please"?
The plan will involve private insurers subsidized by the state, and offer plans from nearly free up to $250 per month. The gov claims that the plan is intended to "end an era in which 550,00 people go without insurance, and their hospital and doctor visits are paid for with public funds. Isn't that what subsidizing private insurers is, paying for healthcare with public funds?
And what about the percentage of people who still won't be able to afford it. Do they have to move? Can they afford to? Will they be jailed for non-compliance? If you drive without auto insurance they take away your license. Will they take away your life is you live without health insurance? Actaul penalties discussed include losing personal state-tax exemptions and penalties after that.
In addition, legislators have proposed a $295 annual fee that employers would be required to pay for EACH employee that they do not provide insurance coverage for. This money would then be fed into the subsidy pool. I can't wait for Mike Sylvester to read this post.
posted by John Good @ 6:26 PM
5 Comments:
John,
Do HSAs qualify too keep folks out of finesville? If so, that would be a VERY cheap way for people to get right with the government...ANYBODY can afford one of those!
That's a very good question. I didn't see anything about that in the article I read (From today's Journal-Gazette). I think HSA's are a good idea for most people if for nothing else than the tax savings.
Health insurance is just freaking CRAZY expensive these days. People are actually making employment decisions based on plan coverages.
My wife is a prime example. As I am self-employed, she bears our coverage premiums. By leaving a job that she LOVED, she lowered our premiums by nearly 70%. She now works for the health-insurance provider, so other results may be less dramatic, but still. . .
John, John, John. I WAS going to post a long and detailed post about this on my blog. Instead, I will direct my readers to your blog and tell them to read the comments...
What the HELL is Massachusetts thinking?
I read a couple of long and detailed stories about their new proposed law on the internet last night, and I was APPALLED.
DO NOT GET ME WRONG, we have a serious problem with health care in The United States. We really and truly do. If you take the time to look at the statistics; can you guess when our problems started?
In the 1960's.
Guess what happened in the 1960's.
The Federal Government and then the State governments got into the health care business. In the last forty years they have 100% SCREWED it up.
EVERYTIME the government starts throwing money at a problem the PRICE GOES up. It is not rocket science.
The government has jumped into education with both feet. What has happened? Tuition costs have skyrocketed.
If you look at the statistics the two items that Americans pay for that have increased the most in the last twenty years are health care and education. They have went up because of the all free government money. DUH!
I expect Massachusetts to come up with stupid rules for morons. They have NOT let me down.
The State of Ted Kennedy is one of the dumbest States in the union.
Let me tell you what will happen in Massachusetts:
1. Mitt Romney will sign this STUPID bill. This will effectively end his presidential bid in 2008 unless he switches to The Democratic Party.
2. Businesses will start to leave Massachusetts. That State already has one of the highest tax rates in the USA; now it is even more hostile to businesses.
3. Unemployment will go up due to number 2 above.
4. The State will have to raise taxes to stay afloat due to number 3 above.
5. More businesses will leave because now the State is more business friendly due to 4 above.
What is worse, the quality of health care will NOT get better, or if it does, it will not increase by very much.
What fricking MORONS...
Rant over.
Mike Sylvester
Libertarian in Royville...
I understand that this bill was passed ultimately to save public funds. The argument goes as follows: A lot of people, namely young men age 18 to 35, (shame on my demographic group!) were not getting health insurance even though they could easily afford it. This same demographic group also happens to engage in the type of risky behaivior that one can observe in a Mountain Dew commercial. These young men are all out playing sports, riding motorcycles, and having unprotected sex. (ok, I didn't see that in any commercial, but it is part of the problem and its part of my point) A lot of them will break a bone, get a concussion, or come down with the clap. They then either get an ambulance ride that the government has to pay for, or they go to the state funded free clinic. Even though they could have afforded health before they had their accident, they are all now dependent on the state for their very lives. So Romney is trying to head this off by forcing everybody to get health insurance.
I'll give that governor a "C" for good intentions, and a "C" for effort, but he'll get a "D" for results. People are starting to use government as a substitute for common sense. If it isn't illegal, it must be ok to skydive during a tornado while smoking an unfiltered cigarette. If it isn't manditory, then it isn't really necessary to get that lump checked out.
Ideally, elected officials should find a different way to address the problem of stupid people going without insurance or driving without buckling their seat belts. Instead of enacting new laws, they should use the bully pulpit to come out and say, "Just knock it off, you clods. We're sick of trying to make the world foolproof. We're sick of having to rescue fools who have outsmarted our foolproof barriers."
How do they enforce this?
I see the as contratooshunal.
Robert Enders hit the grading right on.
Peace.
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