Massachusetts Mandatory Health Insurance

Massachusetts has become the first state to mandate health insurance for everyone. This has forced over two-hundred thousand people to obtain health insurance so they can receive the $219 tax exemption on next year's taxes. Although this has forced many people to obtain health insurance double the amount of the new insurance holders have not gotten health insurance. Many cannot afford it. They have however been more successful than they thought they would be. The state-subsidized insurance which is angled toward low income households has been highly successful in that the program has spent $150 million over the program budget.

The plan of mandating that everyperson in the states must have health insurance made them hope that the prices would not increase as much from year to year. This year it is estimated to rise 12% and the state would like to lower this to the single digits. There is also the 60,000 or so who are exempt because they cannot afford the premiums and the reluctance of many to enroll could cause a problem in truly universal coverage.

If other states strated adopting this plan of mandating health coverage, the amount of people who die because they cannot afford medical attention would decrease majorly. If everyone had health coverage which is doubtful to see ever then the death rate of the United States would see a major decrease because all could afford to visit the doctor once a year and afford surgeries that were necessary.