Tuesday, August 21, 2007

More Problems With The Massachusetts Plan

MSNBC reports on still more problems with the much-touted Massachusetts "universal health care plan", which seeks to cover everyone using a mixture of mandates:
The state has already backed off of "universal." About 160,000 uninsured people in the state have incomes that are too high to qualify for subsidized health insurance — but too low to afford the lowest-cost unsubsidized plans. About 60,000 of these working poor won't face a penalty for not getting insurance, but the 100,000 others are in a bind.

"What I'm starting to see," [single mother Maureen] Linehan said, "is the people have to pay for their health care, and now they can't afford to pay their rent."
Because the state is attempting to cover all patients with a government-run system divorced from market incentives, it achieves neither universal coverage, nor cost savings. One might as well attempt to eliminate homelessness by passing a law requiring that all people rent a government-owned apartment.

(Via HealthCareBS.)