Having the nation’s first universal health care plan foisted upon them, taxpayers in Massachusetts are feeling the effects. With a July 2007 target date for implementation, the State of Massachusetts has already fined 97,000 citizens for failure to obtain health insurance, with the State of Massachusetts being the decider in determining who could or could not afford health care insurance, based on a review of one’s 2007 tax returns.

For a first offense, the fine is a forfeiture of a personal exemption worth $219. But, monthly penalties for those who can afford health care and continually refuse will skyrocket and could be as much as $912 by December!

The plan is unjust, oppressive, and the penalties harsh, but then that’s the point. Denying citizens the right to decide their own method of caring for themselves, and forcing them to partake of a government program is socialism. Shades of an Orwellian bureaucratic department easily come to mind — “Citizens of Massachusetts, you will obtain health insurance,”  -The Ministry of Health.

Governor Deval Patrick is pleased with the “progress,” and noted that 95 percent of all tax filers now have insurance. In a glowing report paid for by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth Fund, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — conflict of interest?? — Sharon Long noted that out-of-pocket expenses for health care dropped by four percent.  Well they would drop if people are forced into paying premiums that they didn’t have before, and are therefore making claims through their insurer. She did admit that lawmakers are struggling to find ways to cover the soaring costs of the law. “The continued challenge of health reform requires the continued support of the population.”  Translation — we’re taking whatever money from your pockets that we deem necessary to run the program, now and forever, Amen.

Years ago the tag line to a scenario like this might read “only in Massachusetts,” but now it would read more like “coming to your state very soon.”

For an excellent and detailed article on the many faceted problems of government-run health care please visit “Fractured Healthcare,” by Dr. Jane Orient.
 

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