Gosh, for an area that took up so much time and oxygen this year, and that takes up so much of the budget, and that threatens so much of our economy, you’d think that health care would be a bigger deal than it is.
Deval Patrick rose tremendously in my estimation last year for supporting the MassACT initiative, which contributed the idea of employer responsibility for insuring workers. He supports the new law as it is (no, Glen, he didn’t “help craft it”), but realistically gives himself leeway in addressing future challenges. That’s not vague, that’s just smart.
True to form, Kerry Healey promises everything to everybody, including getting rid of the already-meager uninsuring-employer assessment of $295. To review: Requiring an individual of moderate means to pay $3,600 a year for insurance is A-OK with Healey, but their flinty employer paying $295 to defray the state’s costs is just too much to ask. Everyone got that? She’s “terrified” that it’s all just gonna turn into “socialized health care overnight.” That, my friends, is 24-carat ignorance.
But as the fabulous Martha Bebinger of WBUR pointed out this morning, there are still tremendous challenges in implementation. For instance, there really aren’t adequate plans for getting costs under control — from either candidate. Cleaning up the paperwork would be good, but it’s not going to fix the problem. And you’ve got to go beyond “prevention” — whatever that is, and however worthwhile that is — and start rewarding practitioners for providing health, not services. That was, after all, the original purpose of HMOs.
Well, at least Deval Patrick promises to do it, and has taken bold stands in the past on health care. Kerry Healey proposes malpractice insurance reform — which may be worthwhile in and of itself, but it’s laughable as a plan to control costs.
Controlling costs will take boldness. Hey Deval: Whomever you need to piss off, do it. We’ve got your back.
True to form, Kerry Healey promises everything to everybody, including getting rid of the already-meager uninsuring-employer assessment of $295. To review: Requiring an individual of moderate means to pay $3,600 a year for insurance is A-OK with Healey, but their flinty employer paying $295 to defray the state’s costs is just too much to ask. Everyone got that? She’s “terrified” that it’s all just gonna turn into “socialized health care overnight.” That, my friends, is 24-carat ignorance.
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This bears repeating as one of the best points made in the general election argument about healthcare, and shows the true nature of ‘For-it-all Healey’.