Update: Listen here.
Today, WBUR’s Radio Boston asks, “Can Mass Healthcare Be Used as a National Model?” The show airs at 1:00 pm today, and repeats at 1:00 pm tomorrow, Saturday. You can also listen online after the show airs.
Host David Boeri spent a good amount of time listening in at HCFA’s Helpline, as we helped people get enrolled into coverage. His work on the story is making a difference for Jessica Alpert, an assistant producer of the show, who blogged about her experience.
Ms. Alpert works part-time, and is not offered coverage by BUR. When she moved to Massachusetts, she dreaded applying for good coverage, because she had a number of serious health issues. So she didn’t inform the out-of-state insurer on her application for catastrophic-only coverage, fearing she’d be rejected if she told all the details.
What she didn’t know is that Massachusetts prohibits insurers from asking about health status, and that low-income people like her are eligible for help in paying for quality comprehensive coverage. Through working on the story, she got connected to the Helpline, which filled out an application for her. She’s promised to update her blog with the results.
The show this afternoon takes phone calls – let them here your story.
Brian Rosman
The article here certainly implies that you lied on the application in order to get coverage. If the author of the article knew the truth, then he is irresponsible for leaving important info out of the article. The entire message about your situation and the article completely changes by the omission of that piece of info.
to Jessica Alpert,
The fact is if your income increases so will your cost of your health insurance.How is that fair to some who are paying high cost plans with high dedutables? There should be a flat rate or flat tax for middle incomes.We need to get the private insurance companies out my husband pays $98.00 a month for medicare.We could all be on medicare tomorrow if the President Obama let us.
We must stop this cancer from metastasizing throughout the nation! Write to President Obama and Secretary Daschle, let them know that the MA law is an expensive and inefficient scam.
Can Mass healthcare be used as a national MODEL?
Yeah, if you like sniffing glue.
The point is, no one would give me comprehensive coverage even though I have no lingering health issues and have been healthy since the age of one.
To MCC:
There is always more to the story. When the catastrophic-insurance agency asked me about my health history, they inquired only about the last ten years. Indeed I have not had any health issues in the past ten years. My heart condition was corrected at 8 months of age and I’ve had no complications since.
No lies were involved and by no means is lying the best course of action.
Lying on any insurance application is fraud. Not only would her issues not be covered, but she could be prosecuted by the state for insurance fraud.
This law chapter 58 is discrimination by income.The low income get free health insurance the wealthy can afford the insurance the middle income cannot.The state is fining middle income for not being wealthy enough.This is ethically and morally wrong.The uninsured in this state are forced to buy into high cost high deductable plans.Based on income, a person who increases their incomes will have to pay more and more for their insurance.This is forcing people not to make any money or better their lives.What kind of system forces poverty so the residents can keep health insurance.There has to be a fair and reasonable way to this without forcing citizens into poverty so they can get free insurance.