Massachusetts Health Insurance Reform......' a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform(AFL-CIO) ' or the Wile E. Coyote ' Acme Rocket ' plan or just ' Toothless Reform ' ?


[It's all so hard to figure, isn't it? According to an official statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney (below) regarding recent Massachusetts healthcare reform legistlation, the " legislation leaves middle-income families dangling without a safety net, jeopardizes families who currently have employer-sponsored health care, and gives employers a free ride ........a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform ". We just wonder exactly what is contained in the final signed version. While everyone pontificates over the broader ideological strokes, it's usually the fine print that kills the cat. The final veto version denies dental coverage ($75M) to adult Medicaid recipients because, 'it provides a service not offered by most Massachusetts employers', Governor Romney aptly (HUH?) noted. That gets right to the vanilla core of real healthcare reform issues. Call it 'Toothless Reform' , if you will. Newt, you're off the hook, 'cause maybe, this is a page out of the Wile E. Coyote 'Acme Rocket' playbook for healthcare reform? One thing for sure, if you want real reform, follow the money trail. Where it leads is where the real balance of power and core reform issues reside.]
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AFL-CIO: Press Releases, Speeches and Testimony

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Massachusetts Health Care Reform
April 05, 2006

Who would have thought that Massachusetts – long considered a bastion of progressive thinking – would take a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform? Forcing uninsured workers to purchase health care coverage or face higher taxes and fines is the cornerstone of Mr. Gingrich’s health care reform proposals. And it is unconscionable that Massachusetts has adopted this misguided individual mandate.

This legislation leaves middle-income families dangling without a safety net, jeopardizes families who currently have employer-sponsored health care, and gives employers a free ride.

The bill protects workers with the lowest incomes, but punishes middle-income families. A typical family in which the husband and wife each earn a little more than $30,000 and who have two children would be forced to purchase health care, but would not be qualified for any help even if their employer does not offer any coverage or they can't afford their share of the premium. With the average employer-sponsored insurance premium costing more than $4,000 a year for single workers and close to $11,000 a year for working families, Massachusetts' new requirement will bankrupt many middle-class families.

The state has promised to come up with an affordable health care plan but has been woefully short on details. While the state's promotional materials say, “everyone who can afford health insurance should be required to obtain it",it does not define affordable or provide any guarantees. Is it affordable for a single person making $30,000 a year to spend $3,000 (the amount currently being floated) on a stripped-down health care plan?

We believe that workers have to participate in the solution to the problem, but this plan puts the entire burden on workers while letting employers off the hook. Businesses that do not offer insurance will be assessed a paltry $295 per worker per year, an amount so meager that it actually creates an economic incentive for many businesses to pay the assessment rather than provide....More