GOVERNMENTMassachusetts mandates insurance coverage for all; costs at issueSome view the effort as a potential model for nationwide universal health care.By Elaine Monaghan, AMNews staff. April 24, 2006. Washington -- Doctors broadly welcomed a bill passed by the Massachusetts Legislature to cover the uninsured, but some questioned whether the state can generate the affordable plans it promised low-income residents. Some doctors and experts said that by requiring people to insure themselves and offering subsidies for the poor, the state had made itself a testing ground for universal health care throughout America. About 11% of Massachusetts residents lack insurance, compared with 16% nationwide, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. "The AMA is not only very encouraged by this [vote] but enthusiastic about the way both sides of the political aisle were able to work together to create a plan that hopefully will provide coverage for everybody in Massachusetts and at the same time allow people to have choice," said AMA Secretary Joseph M. Heyman, MD. The American Medical Association wants coverage for low-income people and children to be expanded incrementally in the short term. In the long term, the AMA seeks a market-based plan that uses tax credits and insurance market reforms to boost coverage. In that sense, the Association's vision is close to the Massachusetts bill, which embraces the idea of subsidies, Dr. Heyman said. The AMA hopes to put coverage of the uninsured high on the agenda of this year's congressional elections and make it a top priority for the 2008 presidential race, he said. Alan M. Harvey, MD, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said his state stood to become the first to have a universal health plan. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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