More Health Insurance Coverage for Massachusetts Residents

The state of Massachusetts has proposed new minimum standards for health insurance coverage that may affect more than 200,000 people. If the plan goes through, all of these people would be forced to purchase additional coverage in order to meet the new minimums of the law.

The majority of these people do not have prescription drug coverage, or they have coverage but not enough according to the new law. The new law is being voted on in March 2007, and if passed anybody who does not increase their coverage will face fines of approximately $200 for the year. These fines are set to increase in following years if the plan is passed.

While this law may seem like a good idea, there are many people who are against it. A lot of people were under the impression that the new law would be enforced to ensure that everybody in the state had some level of health insurance coverage. Initially, it was not known that people with coverage could be fined if they did not meet minimum standards.

The minimum standards for the proposed law are still being discussed, and will not be in place for a few weeks at the very least. At this time the proposed standards are as follows: $5,000 out of pocket limit a year per individual, $10,000 out of pocket limit a year per family, deductibles of no more than $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families. And as mentioned above, there will also be some standards for prescription coverage.

The estimated 200,000 people affected are only those who are currently insured by one of the five biggest companies in the state. So obviously, this number is going to increase when the rest of the population insured by smaller companies is considered.