Herewith an update to a post from a couple of days ago, in which I wondered whether Niki Tsongas, as part of her generally backing the Mass. health care strategy, supports a nationwide individual mandate. The Tsongas campaign responds (emphasis mine):
[A]s you know, the universal health care plan that Niki favors as a promising model for the nation is the Massachusetts health care reform law, as strongly supported by Governor Deval Patrick and consistent with much of what leading Democratic candidates for President are advocating. Niki supports the individual mandate as one element of a comprehensive solution to achieve guaranteed affordable coverage for every American — one that encompasses shared responsibility on the part of business, government, and individuals. Niki would not support an individual mandate in the absence of an employer mandate or the creation of purchasing pools and other measures that would enable individual consumers to afford to buy coverage.
Thanks to the Tsongas campaign for clarifying this issue.
Re: “Niki would not support an individual mandate in the absence of an employer mandate…”
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Hello!!!! We are not idiots!!!!
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The MA “employer mandate” of $295 per worker PER YEAR is worse than a cruel joke; it is a slap in the face.
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So Ms. Tsongas thinks that the $295/YEAR employer mandate is demonstrative of fair and equal “shared responsibility” when the individual mandate is $325/MONTH for a 55 year old? Is she serious?
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These are the facts, folks; the cheapest way to satisfy the mandate for a 55 yo making over $31K a year is a $325/MO plan. That’s for lousy insurance coverage with significant deductibles and co-pays. That’s what I call a cruel joke AND a slap in the face.
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The “promising model” that Ms. Tsongas supports is FAKE REFORM that is traumatizing many hardworking moderate income uninsured people in this state while lining the pockets of the HMO’s and insurance industry. It also lets employers shirk their responsibility to contribute to universal healthcare in an equitable manner. I am ashamed for her and for every other purported “leader” who is trying to foist this sham reform upon us. I and many others are also very angry. As we should be. And it’s only gonna get worse.
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People need affordable guaranteed HEALTHCARE, not practically useless “coverage” that will bankrupt them. Get a clue, Ms. Tsongas, please. People are dying for lack of needed care. Really, they are. I know you know this to be true. So why are you part of the problem instead of being part of the solution? MA-05 Candidate Jamie Eldridge supports real universal healthcare that puts people before corporate profits. We need Jamie in Congress, for the desperately needed leadership that he’ll bring to this issue and to many others.
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The below is from the MA state Connector website for a 55 yo:
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Low premium. Most have deductibles and co-payments. No prescription drug coverage. 4 plans $324.75 – $451.48/mo
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Bronze Low premium. Most have deductibles and co-payments. Prescription drug coverage included. 4 plans $364.50 – $514.19/mo
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Silver Moderate co-payments. Some have no deductible. Prescription drug coverage included. 9 plans $507.73 – $686.37/mo
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Gold Low co-payments. No deductible. Prescription drug coverage included. 5 plans $632.46 – $876.20/mo
The views of Nikki Tsongas on health care reform represent just the latest example of a Massachusetts politician hailing the state health care reform law, despite having MINIMAL DATA to support the claims that the law represents, even a partial, solution to the uninsured and underinsured coverage problem in the state.
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When (and if) we start receiving the demographic statistical data from the state and insurance companies about #’s of people covered, Mass. residents declining to get insurance coverage, utilization of services, margin of profits earned by insurance companies on the Commonwealth Choice plans, cancellation rates, and, of course, cost savings to the state and health care providers etc…, then we can have an informed conversation about whether some version of the Massachusetts plan should go to scale on a national basis. Until then, Nikki Tsongas’s assertions, and those extolling the “promising model” of health care reform in Massachusetts are shallow empty rhetoric.
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The MA state Connector’s television commericals and other outreach urging MA residents to obtain legally mandated health insurance coverage represent an impressive marketing campaign by the agency. (I am particularly fond of the working-class guy with the thick Boston accent whose arm is in a sling reminding Mass. residents they need to get health insurance right now, before it is too late!!!) Unfortunately, this full-court marketing campaign by the state bears no relationship to the critical question of whether the health care reform model being implemented the MA Connector represents a sound business and public policy model for either Massachusetts or the nation.