MassCare, Coming Soon to an America Near You

This sounds familiar...

The relentlessly rising cost of health insurance is prompting some small Massachusetts companies to drop coverage for their workers and encourage them to sign up for state-subsidized care instead, a trend that, some analysts say, could eventually weigh heavily on the state’s already-stressed budget.

[...]

“They are giving up out of frustration,’’ Fields said of the employers. “Most of them are very compassionate but they simply can’t afford health insurance any more.’’

Precisely how many small businesses have recently given up offering insurance is hard to pinpoint. The Office of Labor and Workforce Development said the most recent quarterly insurance data collected from small companies has not been compiled.

State officials said they have not seen convincing evidence that there is a trend. There has not been an unusually large spike in enrollment in Commonwealth Care, the subsidized insurance program, according to spokesman Richard Powers. And in any case, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of health and human services, said the administration budgeted for higher health care spending because it anticipated that there would be growing numbers of long-term unemployed residents who would be signing up for coverage.

Let me rephrase that last paragraph:

State officials say there's no trend, but haven't seen the most recent quarter's data. In any case, the state has already decided it will spend more taxpayer money on healthcare this year, so, who cares, right? Right?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 06:20 PM

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