Massachusetts Expected to Further Backpedal on its Individual Mandate

The Boston Globe is reporting that the Massachusetts legislature "will probably make changes" to the new health care law that could well include capping what a person has to pay for health insurance at 10% before the individual mandate law can be enforced.

Presumably, this would mean a family with a household income of $50,000 per year would have to pay no more than $5,000. I fear that is still too high a number for a family of three, for example, who would not qualify for a state subsidy.

Let me first say that I continue to applaud Massachusetts for at least trying to deal with this health care issue and that I believe the "Connector" is doing all it can with the cards it has been dealt.

But what the discussion in the Mass legislature does point to is something I have been talking about for months: Massachusetts will not be able to implement their new health care law to anywhere near the point they wanted because they have not adequately dealt with the fundamental underlying problem--the cost of health care.

My earlier post: The Massachusetts Health Plan Will Turn Out to Be Little More Than a Fancy Expansion of Medicaid--Bids Come In At $250 Per Person Per Month