posted on: 5/3/2006     revised: 3/9/2010

Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to make health coverage mandatory. All state residents are required to obtain health insurance by July 1, 2007. Although penalties for non-compliance are minimal at first, the program is expected to motivate about 515,000 of the state's 550,000 uninsured to get coverage.

It is so simple, yet is really expected to work? Who would have guessed that solving the uninsured problem is so simple?

The only part of the puzzle that does not fit is that Massachusetts is one of four states that does not approve most types of low cost health insurance. None of the leading national low cot health insurance companies have products available to Massachusetts residents. 

It is a shame that implementing the proposal will cost the residents more than a similar measure would have cost in other states. It would be interesting to see the cost difference between this proposal in MA vs. another state. I would suspect that the average commercial health insurance policy is issued in MA is about 40% more expensive per covered person than the average health insurance policy issued in nearby CT, for example.

keywords: Massachusetts, health insurance, uninsured

related topics: Massachusetts affordable insurance exchange at Freedom Benefits

Copyright 2010 by Tony Novak. Originally produced and published for the "AskTony" column syndication prior to 2007. Edited and independently republished by the author in March 2010. All rights reserved.