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Universal Health Care in Massachusetts: The Flip Side

Friday Aug 22, 2008

Universal Health Care in Massachusetts: The Flip Side in Individual Health Insurance

lighthouse Yesterday, we posted on the successes of the universal health insurance mandate in Massachusetts: the number of uninsured residents way down and the number of emergency room visits are down.

But like just about everything else in the world, there’s a downside to every upside.

For Massachusetts’individual health insurance law, the major downside is government spending.

According to a report from Moody’s Investors Service, Massachusetts is set to spend $869 million for the 2008 fiscal year.

That’s a 41 percent increase in costs from fiscal year 2007, reported Reuters.

“Costs related to [Massachusetts’] 2007 health care reforms are increasing far more rapidly than initially projected,” said a Moody’s representative.

So it seems like these high costs should be factored in when measuring the success of the state’s universal health care.

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Comments:

With the death rates of kids aged under five, all industrialised countries with universal healthcare are more successful than the USA.Systems abroad are not perfect. Just as the system in the USA fails people, so do universal healthcare systems. It is just that they fail far less people than the US system does. Overall, France has one of the best. So does Germany, but it is inefficient

Posted by Emily on August 25, 2008 at 04:49 AM CDT #

This always seems to be the problem with a healthcare system funded by the government. The real problem is the cost of healthcare in general. Consumers have to become more aware of the costs instead of having it all hidden behind cover-all insurance plans. The debate between a universal healthcare option and private insurance seems pointless because someone is going to be required to foot the bill until consumers become aware of what things cost, and competition can help to drive the cost down.

Posted by Jeff on August 25, 2008 at 10:33 AM CDT #

Even if the universal healthcare system was intoroduced, the aged are still growing to cry out because of expensive bill. None is happy with the universal healthcare system.

Thank you.

Posted by ninin on August 26, 2008 at 02:17 AM CDT #

Did you see the Bunk study stating 2/3 of doctors in America want National Health Care. The doctors who did this study also conducted one in 2002 and found that the majority of doctors did not want national health care, the problem with this is that the 2 question surveys drastically differ in there 2nd question. I found this article, <a href="http://jaajoe.com/Politics/Sixty-Per-Cent-of-Physicians-Surveyed-Oppose-Switching-to-a-National-Health-Care-Plan.html">60% of Physicians Surveyed Oppose Switching to a National Health Care Plan</a>, It's worth a read.

Posted by matt on August 26, 2008 at 05:17 AM CDT #

It really amazes me that the truth about how the universal health care being such a miserable failure everywhere in the world doesn't make it out in the mainstream media. They are trying to mimic the plan that Mass has here in WA and they are being very secretive about it. I really wish the insurance industry would WAKE UP and be proactive in educating their customers. Leaving that all up to the agents is wrong. We only have so many resources while the insurance companies could reach millions of people with a truthful ad campaign to educate the consumers.

As it sits right now, people like Michael Moore are seen as the advocates for the consumer and all they do is demonize the insurance industry.

Posted by Affordable Medical Insurance on August 28, 2008 at 03:45 PM CDT #