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Y&R Discussion Group
In reading an online paper, I came across this. I thought MA residents loved their health-care but this sounds like there are some problems. Can anybody clear this up? :
'' Bay State voters are up close and personal with the kind of reform measures Washington has been devising. Their health costs continue to soar, they face mandates dictating what insurance they must have, and businesses and individuals are buried under onerous bureaucratic requirements and penalties. The Cato Institute has a new study out documenting this, validating findings from the Galen Institute’s study last summer.
A Massachusetts resident made it very clear to a local TV interviewer before the election that his vote was going to be about Obamacare: “If I decide that the health plan they're working on in Washington is like what we have here, I'm voting for Brown,” a voter said. He went on to criticize the tyrannies of the Massachusetts plan — the forced purchase of expensive insurance, the tax penalties, etc.''
LOL! Where did you get this story from? The Enquirer?
This part especially cracked me up: "...they face mandates dictating what insurance they must have..."
Ha ha - so not true!
First of all, I find it both amusing and irritating that just last week, we were just a bunch of liberal crazies out here. But now that we have elected a - GASP - Republican Senator - oh, NOW all of a sudden we are the pillar of conservatism and our Health Care Reform bill is an example of the disaster that the Federal Bill will eventually become.
Oh where to start...
First of all - we have been surviving just fine since Health Care Reform was passed. AS a matter of fact, our Republican Governor at the time (does the name Mitt Romney ring a bell?) championed the darn thing. Of course, the Democrats did all the work, but he was right up front making sure EVERYONE in the state knew about "his" health care reform bill and how great it'll be. Oh you should have seen him. You'd have thought that he was a child in Disney World! That's why I'll be interested to see what he says about Health Care Reform if he runs for President in 2012. But then again, Romney is the ultimate flip-flopper so don't be surprised if, all of a sudden, he's against it. For when he wanted votes for the Governor's office in MA, he was Pro-Choice and for gay marriage. But as soon as he wanted to run on a national level, he did a complete 180 on both of those issues. A lot of MA residents who I talked to after he left office, were pretty irritated w/ him about that - and I read a few Op-Ed pieces as well that showed that same sentiment; especially once he started bad-mouthing our state when he started his last presidential campaign. But I digress...
Secondly - Massachusetts residents didn't do a heck of a lot of advocating against the new Health Care Reform bill at the time. And today, I think it's pretty safe to say that most MA Citizens are pretty much indifferent towards the whole thing. I honestly rarely read or hear anything overtly positive or negative in the press about our plan. Most citizens have accepted it and that's the end of it. Oh, I'm sure people complain - but I never hear it.
Thirdly - our taxes have always been high. So blaming it on health care reform is not very accurate. We're not called "Taxachusetts" for nothing! We got that nickname ions ago, long before Health Care Reform was a stain in Romney's underwear.
And now to address the ridiculous statement I quoted above: "...they face mandates dictating what insurance they must have...":
(I'm still giggling here).....well, I have never been "dictated" to about what kind of insurance I should have. NOt in the least. I am forced to accept my employer's crappy health care plan w/ high deductibles and copays that you only read about (which, unfortunatley, meets the State's minimum threshhold for health care coverage, so we were not able to get Corporate to get us better coverage, like our CA office was able to do - believe me we tried!). AS a matter of fact - I am not eligible for the State's insurance, because I am employeed and not at or below the poverty level.
now, say I lose my job. I at least know that I can get coverage through the state and my premiums (if I have any at all) are based on my income (or lack thereof). IF I don't, yes, I"m taxed. But there is no excuse not to have insurance when I can get it through the state. so it's a non-issue.
yes businesses are taxed if they don't offer benefits to their employers, but another newsflash is that most businesses offer health insurance to their employees anyway, as a way to be competitive. This is considered "good business" by the majority of employers in the US. So you'd be hard-pressed to find a good employer that needs to be forced to offer benefits. And there are exemptions to this tax as well, so most really small businesses don't have to pay. Those who are large enough, already offer the benefits anyway. So there are very, very few employers (if any) in Massachusetts "struggling" to meet the mandate.
The plans offered by The Connector (the agency that offers Health Care Reform) are like any other insurance plan. Members get a choice out of two or three plans, and most doctors are covered. The Company I work for used to manage the call center for the Connector, so I have some pretty good knowledge and experience on this.
Why was Scott Brown elected? I dunno. Maybe people wanted change. We have had Democrats in office for like 52 years or something like that. And our taxes are pretty high and people may want that to change. Could the National Health Care reform be a reason why? Sure, why not. It's not the only reason why, though. But don't forget, that while 52% of MA voters gave Brown the win, the other 47% voted for his opposition - a democrat who supported health care reform. And Scott Brown, compared to Republicans on a national level, is pretty darn moderate - he's not the conservative champion those in the rest of the country are making him out to be.
But bottom line is I would not use our election as an argument against Health Care Reform at all. It is the truth that there really aren't the protests against our State Health Care reform plan that people want there to be. We're just a bunch of liberal crazies who allow people of same sex to marry, and who actually allowed a Republican in office in this most recent election. But we've had republicans in office before - and it's really no big deal. So just go back to ignoring us, ok?
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The National Review from which you cut and pasted this story? Unbiased? No. The Cato Institute? Unbiased? No. The Galen Institute? Unbiased? No. All are on record as categorically against federal healthcare reform.
And your transparent affectation of "surprise" at the statement of one Massachusetts malcontent is supposed to indicate what? How good you are at cherry picking stories to support you position? There you've succeeded.
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The Massachusetts health care bill was passed and implemented while Mitt Romney was Governor. Obama had nothing to do with it.
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Well, I suppose most of the people that live in MA, know first-hand what Obama care will do to the country. It has alreadly practically ruined that State.
There are so many things in this Health care bill that are just downright frightening. Did you know that they will give the IRS the power to fine people if they do not purchase health insurance? Frightening, isn't it?
Did you know that our personal health insurance would be taxed 40%, while the unions are exempt?
Did you know that even thought the proposed Health Care bill will not take effect until 2014, we will be paying the taxes on it, starting in 2010? Paying higher taxes and getting ZERO for it?
We can kiss our middle-class tax cut goodbye. In fact, we already have. And this is just a miniscule reason why the people in MA went Republican.
TAX, TAX, TAX. This is all this administration knows how to do. In fact, I heard something yesterday about the government wanting to get at our 401-K plans! As if they have not picked our pockets enough!
Obama can have all the job summits he wants. It is just a bunch of smoke-and-mirrors BS. The only thing that will create jobs is people having more money to spend.
But, I am sorry I veered off of the MA health care issue. But everytime I hear about the government wanting to expand something so costly, my blood boils.
I guess the people in MA, and the people in NJ and VA have had enough. I predict that Obama will be a one-term president. We just cannot AFFORD him!!
But, you are correct. The people in MA already have had enough of this government health care.
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