”There really doesn’t seem to be any reason why there can’t be ahealth plan that people who work in small businesses or who areself-employed can buy through the federal government," Bullett said. [She makes $34k/year, two kids.]
>From GBIO’s handy Health Care Proposal Comparison sheet, HA3 will:
- Create a ?re-insurance? program that takes the most expensive cases out of the individual/small group market. Firms with up to 50 workers are eligible.
- This program will reduce the cost of insurance for individuals and small businesses by as much as 30%, without reducing the quality of coverage or increasing co-pays/deductibles.
- No creation of stripped-down insurance products.
- Expands Insurance Partnership Program which subsidizes small businesses that offer health coverage to low-income employees.
So, in other words, HA3 does pool resources of small business and the uninsured, and will make insuring yourself a heck of a lot cheaper.
The other woman’s situation I’m not totally clear on:
"The state government, without reviewing her case in detail, says sheshould qualify for MassHealth, but she insists that she isn’t eligible… When she is really sick, she goes to hospital emergency rooms for freecare. She says she understands that ”there is a segment of thepopulation that needs some coverage," but she insists she isn’t part ofit."
It would seem to me that it would be better if she were on MassHealth as opposed to using the Free Care Pool, because of the potential preventative benefits. By using Free Care, she’s using taxpayer money anyway, and it seems that most analyses think that would be better put to expanding MassHealth. Supposedly Mitt’s plan deals with getting eligible folks onto MassHealth (how?), but he seems to be saying that it won’t cost anything more. I wonder how that works.
Thanks Charley. Someone’s got to call the press on their stuff when they deliver free advertising and propaganda. when I first read the article I turned the page looking for more- some critical analysis. There was none.Romney’s plan is lacking on many counts. But given the importance and high profile of the health coverage issue, one should assume much more homework from the Globe.