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Old 09-23-2011, 08:35 PM
 
1,203 posts, read 1,803,086 times
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It is working, yes, but it is very expensive. I work in the health care field (administration side). Fortunately, those residents that can't afford insurance are able to get partially subsidized care (known as Commonwealth Care) even fully subsidized care through Mass Health.

If you're self employed, you will pay around $1,000 per month for a lower end, yet comprehensive plan on the Mass Health Connector. A higher end plan (lower/no deductible and lower co-pays) can approach $2,000 per month for a family plan.

All that said, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, at least not in the US when it comes to health care.
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Old 09-24-2011, 11:13 PM
 
18,622 posts, read 33,192,920 times
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Do the subsides come from cost-shifting? I mean, if someone is paying zero for Commonwealth Care, where is the money coming from?
A friend of mine was cheerfully on unemployment (is still) since March, 2010, and was only recently told that she had to change her health plan from her (subsidized) COBRA to a cheaper plan subsidized by Commonwealth Care. She was screaming about how the co-pays were so much higher. I managed not to say anything, deciding that 30 years of friendship were worth more than telling her off.
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Old 09-25-2011, 08:34 AM
 
Location: West Roxbury, MA
289 posts, read 564,939 times
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You know where it's coming from. I had a similar experience this week when a woman I've worked with for years told me she'd figured out free NSTAR...you have to owe them $300 before you're eligible for compassionate care or whatever they call it. So she stopped paying her bill, then panicked because she didn't want to ruin her credit score...they assured her they hadn't sent her account to a collection agency, so she waited, became eligible, bingo. She no longer pays for electricity. I didn't want to ruin a friendship either, but....
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Old 09-26-2011, 09:55 PM
 
Location: North Cambridge, MA
8 posts, read 23,625 times
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I was told 77 by HR block. This was last year, I had no insurance and yet to file my return.
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Old 09-29-2011, 02:07 PM
 
2,601 posts, read 3,375,944 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Browsing Duo View Post
Here's a recent study in Science Daily article reporting a Harvard study that the MA health care reforms are working well.
US Health care: Massachusetts health-care reform increased access to care, particularly among disadvantaged

The Boston Globe did an exhaustive study in the last two months reflecting the same thing, but it's behind a paywall if you're not a subscriber. One thing I recall about the BG article was that employers in MA did not stop covering people, something that critics of any national plan are concerned about.

I moved to MA three years ago and easily got health insurance. In my old home state, New York, I had trouble getting insurance that was affordable because I was in my early sixties, though I was in excellent health. The MA premiums are but they I'm covered. The routine health care has been great. I had no trouble finding a good doctor and I'm out in Western MA. It's hard to believe all the screaming that's going on about developing a health care system where everyone is covered. MA should be proud of itself for getting this up and running and covering almost 100% of children and close to that percentage of adults. There's a lot more to be done in bringing down costs, which have always been very high here because of the world-class research hospitals.
Exellent post. People who don't want universal health care coverage are brain washed or greedy bastards.(ie some people in health insurance industry)
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Old 10-06-2011, 08:35 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,292 times
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quick reply the hell with this massachusetts healthcare program, its a joke, i just had a daughter almost 3 months ago now, i applied our family to masshealth, she got on it within a couple of weeks, it took them 3 months to get back to me just to tell me im denied!!!! i myself make 20k a year if im lucky and my girlfriend the same, combined we are right around 40k a year, but thats before taxes!!!! they always calculate their crap BEFORE TAXES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so 40k a year household minues about 14k in taxes minues 12k for rent, minues figure maybe around 4k for food for the year, car insurance, excise tax (Another Joke), amongst other bills just to live, and on top of this now you HAVE to have health insurance or you get fined!!!! where the hell in the constitution does it say the american government can MAKE me spend my money on something i 1 cannot afford 2 don't wan't right now as back to 1 cannot afford!!!!?!?!?!?????!?!??!??? this is the beginning of many things to come.... the rein of communist america begins i say kill them all start from scratch this government is full of crooks!!!!!!
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Old 10-07-2011, 03:39 AM
 
18,622 posts, read 33,192,920 times
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Well, if people would waive the requirement that any ER has to treat them (or at least see them for some minor thing, as so many uncoverd people go in that way), then it would be fine for people not to be covered.
Do unmarried couples count as a "family" for purposes of insurance, that is, does the system see the previous poster as a single man, and the girlfriend and child as a single mother+child?
I think previous poster could look on the Health Connector (which isn't Mass Health) and see what is available.
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Old 10-09-2011, 07:38 AM
 
2,601 posts, read 3,375,944 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brightdoglover View Post
Well, if people would waive the requirement that any ER has to treat them (or at least see them for some minor thing, as so many uncoverd people go in that way), then it would be fine for people not to be covered.
Do unmarried couples count as a "family" for purposes of insurance, that is, does the system see the previous poster as a single man, and the girlfriend and child as a single mother+child?
I think previous poster could look on the Health Connector (which isn't Mass Health) and see what is available.
So you're going to deny people emergency treatment? That's really humane. Let's give homeless people no treatment, but convicted felons full dental/health ect. Every single first world democracy provides universal healthcare. The solution is simple.
TAKE OUT THE PREMIUMS THROUGH TAXES. No choice. Simple. Obviously, someone making less than 20k a year would be subsidized because you can't really increase taxes on that little income.
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Old 10-09-2011, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Camberville
15,788 posts, read 21,299,275 times
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MassCare is the only reason some of my friends are still alive. I was lucky that when I was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year at 23, I was covered by health insurance by my employer and had my pick of some of the best cancer institutions and professionals in the world to treat me.

One of my good friends who I have met through the young adult survivor network was ONLY diagnosed because she had MassCare. She was 29 when diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer - her lump was tiny and was felt by a doctor on her first checkup after getting on MassCare because she was job hunting after getting a masters in biology. If Massachusetts didn't have such a program, she would not have been eligible for self-bought insurance (was denied when living elsewhere due to asthma).

Many other friends of mine are on MassCare as well - we are not able to get heath insurance on our own due to having cancer as young adults and even if pre-existing conditions were not a deniable offense, we would probably be priced out of most insurance policies.

My medical bills in the past year have amounted to over $300,000 between doctors visits, chemo, oncopsychiatry, a therapist, and all of the support care around a cancer diagnosis. Even if we didn't have an insurance system in this country and the cost was drastically reduced, that would never be something a 23 year old can pay for.
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Old 10-14-2011, 03:15 AM
 
Location: Renton, WA
614 posts, read 1,369,451 times
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Default The economy of Massachusetts is stronger that Texas due to the Massachusetts health care program

According to this column, the Massachusetts health care system is supported by the vast majority of the state's residents, and with this system, Massachusetts has one of the strongest economies of any state in the USA. Massachusetts has a stronger economy than Texas. The unemployment rate in Texas, now 8.4 percent, is lower than the nation's 9.1 percent, but higher than Massachusetts' 7.6 percent, according to this column by Froda Harrop. And while the Texas economy grew 2.8 percent in 2010, the Massachusetts gross domestic product jumped 4.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In Massachusetts, "Romneycare" gains support with every passing year. Now 63 percent of residents back it, with just 21 percent against, according to a poll by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe. According to Harrop, he government-run plan certainly didn't hurt the Massachusetts economy, and may have helped by creating a more orderly health care system.

Harrop concludes that in low-tax, low-service, low-regulation Texas, over 26 percent of the people are uninsured, the highest percentage in America. In high-tax, high-service, highly regulated Massachusetts, health coverage is near universal, and the state still beats Texas in economic growth and employment.
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