Mass. State Health Plan… Success or Failure?

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the Mass State Health Plan deadline requiring most individuals to carry health insurance. Though the insurance law has been praised by some and criticized by others, Drew Altman president of the Kaiser Family Foundation believes the law falls somewhere in the middle.

So what’s the main problem, and everyone’s number one concern? COST… go figure.

The USA TODAY article Mass. Pioneering Health Plan turns 1 highlights some of the plans successes and failures. The success story highlights a woman who had lost coverage when she lost her job and was able to get coverage discounted through the state. Lucky – she was even able to get coverage after being diagnosed with cancer. She is now in remission!

Failures? Well the article doesn’t do a very good job of examining this side. They touch on a woman who is self-employed. Her monthly premium last year was $422. In August that will increase to $615. $615 x 12 = $7380. Now I am not exactly sure how that works with tax write-offs (being self-employed) but that number is ridiculous.

Now I applaud Mass for getting their uninsured down to 7%, however the program/law needs to take into account the cost of insurance to everyone… not just those with low income. In a scenario where someone is paying $615 a month for health care , or even half of that, is difficult for me to digest considering the amount of money I make (thank you change:healthcare for covering my health insurance). No wonder people don’t purchase health insurance. At that price… I would be tempted to keep my fingers crossed that I don’t get sick.

With the changes in our economy, especially on the verge of electing a new president, finding a health insurance solution for the whole country is going to be anything but easy. And the Mass approach will not work for every state, or the whole nation for that matter.

Keeping costs down needs to be one of our main concerns. The fact that health care is 20% of our GDP, compared with similar countries hovering around 10%, is proof that something has to change. (I would not harp on the 20% if we ranked near the top of the list for infant mortality and life expectancy… but we don’t, we are actually in the bottom third.)

Our second focus needs to be quality and subsequently preventative care. As one of our partners pointed out, we do not have a HEALTH CARE system, we have a SICKNESS TREATMENT system. The shift to health care must take place.

Renovating a system that is so set in its ways is not going to be easy. As you can see with Mass, its a work in progress, and very few people embrace change with open arms. However, focusing on changing the ways in which we approach insurance coverage and enrollment, as well as the ways in which we approach our health are good places to start. Add in the end goal of reducing cost, improving quality, and extending access… and we can begin to change:healthcare as a country. Since Mass has tried to change first, lets take this as an opportunity to learn from their successes and failures.