Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Mass. Medical Model Shines, Pt.3 – Program shaping up and trimming.

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This wise foresight is now paying off, according to this quarterly report. Millions of dollars are now being saved by the heavy reduction of ‘free-riders’ resulting from the dramatic expansion of enrolling so many residents who had no health insurance, into their own policies. According to the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, visits by people without health insurance to hospitals and community health care centers that are financed by the state’s free care pool, which is their health safety net, have dropped by 44% for the 2008 first fiscal quarter under the figures from the year before. The financial drain from this pool has dropped 41% from the year before. This year is down to $97 million from the $165 million drawn last year. It is reported that morale is high, when it comes to the self worth these who had no health insurance, but now feel good that they are able to provide for themselves. For a better in-depth look at this this situation, please Refer to the article series entitled “Mass. Health, A Creator Explains “.

As pointed out by Ms. Lazor in her article “Massachusetts has embarked on a closely watched experiment to become the first state requiring virtually all residents to have health insurance.” The current results are awarding “the most compelling evidence so far that the experiment is working,” she adds. The general attitude is showing a cultural shift for the public. This community effort of invoking all those without coverage to procure health insurance is considered to be creating a healthier community as a whole. These are the sentiments of research director of Health Care for All, Brian Rosman. The Health Care for All group consumer is one of the largest in the state.

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