Tuesday, 25 July 2006
Connecticut Next For Mandatory Health Insurance?
The News Times of Danbury, Connecticut is reporting that legislators there are testing the political waters around a bill that would make health insurance mandatory. The new bill would be modeled after the Massachusetts law passed in April of this year.
House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, said:
“In 2007, this is going to be the biggest issue facing the Democratic caucus and facing the legislature. Our model will be close to the Massachusetts model. But it will also have school clinics and dental clinics.”
It’s too early to know how the Connecticut law will unfold. But if it resembles the Massachusetts law, uninsured people making a certain amount of income would be required to buy health insurance or face penalties. People who fall below the income level would have their healthcare subsidized by the state.
Supporters of the bill claim that unpaid medical bills put an enormous financial strain on the public. Doctors and hospitals take losses when the uninsured can’t pay their medical bills, and those costs are passed on to other healthcare consumers.
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney compared the bill to the way auto insurance works. In most states, purchasing auto insurance is required to drive a car.
Critics of the bill point out that driving a car is a voluntary choice. The health care law requires everyone to buy insurance, simply because of where they live.
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