Cost of care still #1 concern for Mass. residents, despite mandatory insurance law
A new survey out of Massachusetts questions whether the newly insured under that state’s mandatory health insurance law are really protected.
According to a new poll, the cost of health coverage is still a major concern for patients:
High costs and deductibles are still a problem. That was the result of another study which found that 6.1% of Massachusetts patients were underinsured (defined as having high costs not covered by their health insurance plan). That study praised Massachusetts because the underinsured rate fell in comparison to national increases, but it's a hollow victory if insurance isn't protecting patients when the number of underinsured decreased from the year before by less than 20%.
Mandates make the wrong judgment call to insure everyone now and worry about costs later. It doesn’t work when costs continue to rise and having insurance doesn’t translate into access to health coverage.
According to a new poll, the cost of health coverage is still a major concern for patients:
Some are postponing treatments, and others are not filling prescriptions, because of high costs or an inability to pay bills from earlier procedures, according to the survey by The Boston Globe and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.Proponents have been declaring victory because the number of uninsured fell in Massachusetts, but it’s not a success if that insurance isn’t covering the medical bills.
A third of those surveyed said the cost of care is their biggest health concern, and 39 percent ranked it among their top two health concerns. No other concern came close.
Thirteen percent of residents with insurance said they were unable to pay for some health services in the past year. The same percentage of insured people said they did not fill at least one prescription because it was too expensive or their insurance copayment was too high. The numbers rise to 14 percent if both insured and uninsured residents are considered.
Two years into the state's pioneering healthcare experiment to insure nearly everyone, coverage is almost universal, with 97 percent of Massachusetts adults reporting they have some sort of insurance, according to the survey. Yet for some that did not translate into getting needed care.
High costs and deductibles are still a problem. That was the result of another study which found that 6.1% of Massachusetts patients were underinsured (defined as having high costs not covered by their health insurance plan). That study praised Massachusetts because the underinsured rate fell in comparison to national increases, but it's a hollow victory if insurance isn't protecting patients when the number of underinsured decreased from the year before by less than 20%.
Mandates make the wrong judgment call to insure everyone now and worry about costs later. It doesn’t work when costs continue to rise and having insurance doesn’t translate into access to health coverage.