http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/15/health_plan_rates_may_rise_by_14/
It didn't take long for MA to make a mess of things with its intention of covering the uninsured. First we had the penalty for not being insured, now, MA is "considering" a rise in premiums to cover "costs."
Health care and paying for that care requires sytemic changes. MA, notably a liberal state has applied the George Bush model of democracy to its state with the same idiotic results.
In the middle east George Bush wanted democratic elections: The fact that the culture of the countries, instability of the countries, and corruption within the countries left no room for a legitimate election of candidates committed to democracy did not stop him....so we have Iraq with its ineffective government that will need US handholding for years to come and that most stellar example of pasting the legitimacy of a democratic election on a place ill equipt for such a process, the "election" of Hamas, a terrorist organization in the Palestinian territories.
And MA, well, the idea of universal health coverage has turned into a state-run bludgeon of tyranny: Addressing those who cannot afford insurance by charging them a penalty for being uninsured and now by proposing a 14% increase in premiums to expand their program.
Like George Bush, the politicians just want to check off an item as complete: Universal health care, check, Iraq democratic, check, Palestinian territories democratic, check. Reality, not really.
So what are they missing, these far removed politicians who swear they've read the complaints of Americans and are aware of the real situations they try to address through the vicarious experience of listening to a few people? They're missing the basic reasons for health care crisis:
The COST of getting health care is out of control. This is the one piece of the puzzle that our politicians will not examine because they don't want to mess with health care providers.
This isn't an accusation, it's a fact. Over 50% of our health insurance dollars are accounted for by rises in costs, including a 30% rise in the fees charged ABOVE inflation. As explained before, even the over 40% rise in utilization rate that insurers whine about (people actually seeking medical care for their health insurance dollars) is partially explained by DEFENSIVE medicine, doctors directing patients for a full range of testing, warranted or not. And remember, it's NOT WORKING, we are 42ND in life expectancy.
MA could learn a thing or two from the fiasco that is George Bush's check list and new math equation that stated election equals democracy: Ignoring reality makes things worse. Like George Bush, MA will now spend endless tax dollars in trying to "tweak" a program that will fail because it has ignored reality: It is the cost of health CARE that created the need for health INSURANCE. It is the desire for PROFITS that led to less COVERAGE. It is the MISTAKE of the population to think that we can look out for ourselves and be good, obedient CUSTOMERS and forever AVOID needing health care and therefore we should begrudge those nasty sick people who are responsible for raising our premiums. Healthy people don't need health insurance.
Like George Bush and the fact that he has turned US policy of spreading democracy into a joke at best and an example of arrogant egoism at the expense of lives at worst, MA is undercutting the idea of universal access to affordable, quality health care through its ridiculous example of carelessness in policy.
