Massachusetts’ vaunted attempt to get universal health insurance coverage with mandates and state subsidies has hit a rather significant bump. The subsidized plan is more popular than expected in part because copays are lower than in private plans. Costs to the state are 20 percent higher than budgeted.
Rather than increase copays or reconsider insurance regulations in the state, however, the board overseeing the plan has approved lower reimbursement rates for providers, i.e., what they pay “docs and hospitals.” The lower rates are in line with what Medicaid pays in Massachusetts. Lower reimbursement rates means from the state act like taxes, which means Bay Staters will have less access to care in exchange for low premiums and low copays.
Isn’t the whole selling point of universal insurance that it improves access?
