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Health insurance policies with monthly costs of $122 to more than $800 were approved Thursday by the board overseeing Massachusetts' new law requiring everyone in the state to carry insurance.
The lowest premiums will be paid by young adults, ages 19 to 26; the highest, by those over 55. The least costly premium for those in the middle is about $175 a month. The state aims to cover all uninsured, with subsidies for those below 300% of the federal poverty level, which is about $30,000 for an individual.
As the first state in the nation to require individuals to buy insurance, Massachusetts' plan is being closely watched.
"Everyone is watching, because the perception is that if Massachusetts fails to implement this, then it gives other people less confidence that it can be done," says economist Len Nichols at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.
The premiums are higher than some advocates say is affordable, especially when deductibles and co-payments are included.
More.
A group of U.S. hospitals on Thursday offered a plan to cover the nation's 47 million uninsured, including mandatory coverage for all and subsidies for the working poor.The proposal by the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents about 20 percent of the industry, is the latest in a flurry of proposed schemes to solve the growing problem of the uninsured. Since 2000, about 6 million people in the United States have lost their insurance.
The hospital group's plan, estimated to increase federal spending by $115 billion, would build on the employer-based health system, under which most Americans already get coverage.
It would provide subsidies for individuals to buy insurance from their employer if they cannot afford it, or to buy tax-subsidized coverage in the open market.
