With all the discussion on the health insurance bills, I'd like to hear

[Lydia Leftcoast]

personal accounts from Massachusetts residents. Some say the Massachusetts plan is great, while other say it's horrible.

What do you people with actual experience think?

OK, go ahead.

[YankeyMCC]

1. I live in Mass and fortunate enough

to have insurance provided by my employer so I don't have direct experience. But from what I've followed in the local news and politics we've done pretty well in getting people coverage.

Not very well in keep costs down and it's contributed to budget problems. So far not insurmountable but already the cheep plans have gotten not even as cheap as the the plan originally called for and demands on the general budget are higher than expected.

So it appears to me that it is helping a lot of people in the short term but that it isn't a good long term plan.

[grahamhgreen]

2. I grew up in Framingham, now live in GA

A kid just out of college from MA just started working with me.

He said the cheapest high-deductible insurance he could get under the plan was $375 a month out of college working at a crap job (he now has decent health care with our company).

$375 is just too much for most working stiffs, IMHO.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Wow, no wonder he left Massachusetts

I wonder how many "health care refugees" the Massachusetts plan has created.

When I lived on the east coast, some people (mostly Republicans) were moving to New Hampshire to escape Massachusetts taxes, but I wonder if there are now people moving to NH (or Rhode Island or Connecticut) to escape the insurance mandate.

[Kat45]

4. My experience with the Mass plan

Some folks here make negative comments about what they call "RomneyCare," but in my experience, it works. Of course it's not perfect, but as I said, if it didn't exist I would have no health care at all.

My job got eliminated a year ago December and except for a low paying, life-sucking part-time, benefit-less for-now job, I have not been able to find employment. Because of what MA has done regarding health insurance, I have been covered all year. I am fortunate to have not had any serious health care issues this year, but routine care is important as well. Because of MA health care, I was able to get a mammogram. I got a colonoscopy. I got a pap smear, which all women should have annually but is even more important for me as a follow up to surgery that removed cancer cells a few years ago. Because of that gynecological appointment, my savvy doctor decided to measure my height, which had shrunk by an inch, and then sent me for a bone density test. That test showed that I have osteoporosis for which I'm now taking medication, affordable because of my health insurance.

If I didn't live in MA, I would not have had this insurance coverage and would not have received that medical care. As a single woman with no children, I was not eligible for Medicaid. Massachusetts has an entity called the Commonwealth Connector through which one can get insurance. Commonwealth Care is the program with subsidized plans for low or no income people. Commonwealth Choice is an exchange through which one can purchase a policy. I applied for the former and while I was waiting I decided to use money I'd saved to purchase a plan through the Choice piece. It cost me around $300 a month, which seemed reasonable considering how expensive health insurance tends to be. The next month I was approved for Commonwealth Care, which provided a plan with a fully subsidized premium. Yes, there were co-pays but they were similar to the amounts I paid when I got my insurance through work. When I started working part time, I had to pay $77 a month for the premium; I wasn't happy about it but it seems reasonable enough considering the cost of health insurance. Commonwealth Care places you in a tier for type of plan but you do have a choice of several plans. The differences in the tiers seem to mainly involve amount of co-pays. Commonwealth Choice also offers several plans at different price points for your purchasing choice. So far, I did not have any problem of the plans refusing care. With both Choice and Care, they are group plans, not individual plans. There was no regard for health status or pre-existing conditions. Individual plans are pretty much useless because they are way too expensive and give too little coverage--if they'll even take you at all. So I am extremely grateful that Massachusetts passed its health care bill. My main fear is that they will end up cutting back because of the state of government finances these days.

If I were to get a better paying job that did not come with health insurance, I would likely have to purchase a plan through Commonwealth Choice again and I'm not sure what the cost of that would be now. One fear I do have is getting a job that comes with a lousy insurance plan, such as one of those high-deductible plans. In that case, I think I would be obligated to take it and I would no longer be eligible for the plans offered through the insurance exchange. In that case, I would not be able to afford my health care. As I'm looking for a job, I am keeping that in mind; I'd rather work for a company that does not provide insurance than one that provides a useless plan. I think I might even pass up a job in that situation (unless it's a dream job, which is highly unlikely). I believe some companies that hadn't been offering insurance are just paying the fine (instead of offering insurance), but I suspect some may have started offering a cheap, useless plan instead.

[YankeyMCC]

5. Here's an example of the core problem the Mass Health plan doesn't address

It really doesn't address the reasons for high medical care and insurance cost, just tries to regulate it without addressing the root causes.

"As costs soar, Mass. foresees change in health insurance rules
Many required to have it cannot afford coverage"

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/03/12/as_costs_soar_mass_foresees_change_in_health_insurance_rules/

[janet118]

6. Mass plan is great for poor - they get ComCare - but sucks for

the middle class who don't have good health insurance from an employer or make above the $50000 per family cap for Commonwealth Care or are self employed or own a small business, because then the so-called affordable insurance "options" have premiums that cost about 1/3 of your income for mediocre plans. And, guess what, the premiums are going up.

If we can't have Medicare for All, WE NEED A PUBLIC OPTION and strict regulation. As it is now, the insurance companies and corporate hospitals will not self-regulate and the state has no power to make them.

[rox63]

7. My brother has health care because of the Mass plan

But he is low-income, and he gets it almost free. I may get a chance to test-drive it myself later this year, if I can't get a job with benefits right away, after I finish a degree I'm pursuing for a mid-life career change. I hear it sucks if you are middle-class, and unlucky enough to not have insurance through your job.