Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Keep the Ball Rolling, Pt.2 – It’s working, so feed it.

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The Boston Globe has published a well-written article, posting it on boston.com explaining the current situation. They have shared the results of a study performed by the Urban Institute, based in Washington, showing that, by last fall, as many as 93% of the employed now had health insurance. One of the researchers of the study, Sharon Long, calculates that the total population of Massachusetts having health insurance now would be greater than 95%, when counting the elderly and the children. This is amazing, when considering that the last US Census only found our national rate to be 84%. The last census was taken in 2006.

So far, the Legislature has come through with sufficient funding to make this work. The segment just above the Federal poverty line have received subsidized health insurance, made possible by the state’s healthcare connector authority for the project. The private health insurance providers have stepped in to cover both, this segment and the segment that can afford health insurance without assistance. All has gone well, with a few considerations. Because of the success with acceptability, the numbers of subsidized enrollees was higher than projected. So, in order to cover this influx, the budget will need increase. A large part of this comes from the Medicaid waiver and will amount to more than $625 million per year in Federal funding

It looks like we have a go, between the Legislature and the governor for additional funding, but, with these added enrollees coming in, much cooperation is still needed. A lot of influential leaders and supporters have already banded together to enact the passage of this bipartisan program back in 2006. Some of those notables were Republicans; Mitt Romney, Michael Leavitt and Tommy Thompson (Leavitt’s predecessor) and the leadership of the Democratic legislature, along with Senator Ed Kennedy. So, here we are at another threshold. The viability has been proven that ‘everyone can, and should, be availed reasonable and affordable health insurance/care. As Leavitt says, "every component of our society" has duty to step up and support this concept. The ball is now in the court of Mr. Leavitt and the Bush Administration.