does massachusetts have universal health care (Harvard: health insurance, buy, subsidized)

[KIERSTENHILLKIRK]

i read that ma is the only state in america to have that.

[Stockholmaren]

Originally Posted by KIERSTENHILLKIRK

i read that ma is the only state in america to have that.

No state in the US has what's considered universal health care. However, MA is the only state that requires you to carry health insurance.

[brightdoglover]

But Mitt Romney is certainly going to spin and lie about that, as he has so many other things. I so hope people outside Massachusetts catch on to his hypocrisies and naked ambition without principles.

[findingmesomeday]

This is typical Massachusetts. They've passed a law that basically does.....nothing.

If you have health care available through your employer, you must enroll (and if you can't afford it, too bad). If you don't have health care available then you are welcome to call BCBS, Tufts, Harvard Pilgrim, etc. But nothing has changed there. The rates for individual coverage, without employer subsidies are still sky high.

[amyalta]

The point with Mass. health care, is that you can get it no matter what! Virtually every other state will reject you for health insurance if you have a combination of even minor things - for me, high BP combined with taking HRT was enough to be rejected by EVERY insurance company in Texas, for example.

In Mass., there is no 'pre exisiting condition' clause - you are insured if you pay, and that is as it ought to be.

[findingmesomeday]

The key is the requirement to have it. Many people didnt' because they couldn't afford it. Now that they're required, they have to go MassHealth. And guess who picks up the tab on that?

[willdufauve]

Hawaii has a pretty good universal health program.

[amyalta]

All this guff about not being able to afford health cover is a nonsense. Everyone ought to have it, and if they can't afford it then it should be subsidized. I am open-mouthed with amazement at the number of Americans who seem to think it is some kind of God-given right NOt to have cover - do these people have any idea at all of what it would cost them if they had an accident or a serious illness?

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by amyalta

All this guff about not being able to afford health cover is a nonsense. Everyone ought to have it, and if they can't afford it then it should be subsidized. I am open-mouthed with amazement at the number of Americans who seem to think it is some kind of God-given right NOt to have cover - do these people have any idea at all of what it would cost them if they had an accident or a serious illness?

I agree that it should be subsidized. Every person I've ever known who was without health insurance cannot AFFORD health insurance. That's why they don't have it. I've never heard of anyone going around without insurance because they chose to do so, maybe it's different in other parts of the country but this is the way it is here.

[cvap]

Mass. did nothing to make health insurance affordable or fair. They just make you buy it from a private company. Seems like a good deal for the companies. Mandated buisness. Though many carriers have left the State. I wonder why?