Stuck paying the MA Breath Tax

or how Romney screwed us over before he skipped town...


The central plank of the Romney plan was a mandate that required everyone to buy health insurance or pay a fine for posing a risk to society by walking around without coverage. There would be subsidies for those who couldn't afford insurance, and residents would be required to buy a minimum amount of health insurance, on the grounds that they might buy a policy that doesn't cover the cost of their care and end up skipping out on their medical bills. "We insist that everybody who drives a car has insurance, and cars are a lot less expensive than people," Mr. Romney told the Boston Globe in 2006.
Mr. Romney and Sen. Ted Kennedy publicly promised that the middle class—that is, people like us—would not be taxed and that our health-care costs would actually decrease if the plan became law.
My husband and I weren't convinced. It all seemed inane, but we are neither politically or socially conservative and figured the plan wouldn't affect us much. Besides, who could be against a plan that covers more people for less money?
For the first two years of the mandate, our IBM health insurance was seen as acceptable in the eyes of the state. This year the rules changed. The state requires that health plans cap out-of-pocket expenses for individuals (not including monthly premiums) at $2,000 a year. Our plan's cap is $2,500.


I think given the option, most people would choose a "catastrophic" health insurance plan- if they were actually exposed to the costs. The last time I was unemployed, what I really wanted was a cap on my health care liabilities, not coverage starting at dollar zero, access to acupuncture, fertility treatments, and health club discounts. I wanted something that would protect me from financial ruin if someone got really sick.  Let's say it would pay nothing until I hit $10k in costs, then it would kick in 100%.  I was instead forced to buy a policy for $9500 per year, and the only thing I could opt out of was drug coverage. That was the MINIMUM policy. This same policy would be more like $14000 in MA today, where we enjoy the most expensive health care in the nation, and it is bankrupting the State. This is very much the model they are trying to impose on us at a national level.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574459101022338232.html?mod=djemEditorialPage