Health insurance adjustment suggested by Massachusetts Governor

health insurance rates

 Gov. Patrick has suggested a few tweaks to the current law that may eliminate a healthcare struggle.

The implementation of the core element of the healthcare reforms are now less than a year away, and the Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, has proposed an adjustment to the state’s own healthcare access law from 2006, which would apply a penalty to employers who are not making a “fair” contribution to the health insurance benefits of their employees.

The alteration to the law would be called the “employer responsibility contribution”.

That new regulation would replace the current assessments that are charged to employers, in order to provide funding for the Medical Security Program for the state, which offers health insurance coverage for individuals who are currently recipients of unemployment benefits.

Officials from the administration feel that the new health insurance fee would be lower than the current one.

They have also expressed that the funds collected would be applied to subsidizing the health insurance coverage for residents of the state with a low income and who will be moved from the Medical Security program once it has been eliminated – which is another of the governor’s proposals. The new coverage would be under MassHealth under the federal Amedical health insurance ffordable Care Act.

According to Governor Patrick, “By retooling this program we can lower the overall contribution while maintaining an original intent of the 2006 health-care reform law, and that is that everyone has a stake in its success.” He has stated that his bill would also impede an increase of approximately $500 million in the amount that businesses in the state would be required to pay in order to provide health insurance coverage to workers who are unemployed.

Should the unemployment coverage rate freeze receive the Legislature’s approval, it would represent the fourth year in a row that the rate has been frozen. This is another move with which the governor has agreed – as have lawmakers – in order to align themselves with businesses and assist them in staying above the expenses that are designed to help with job preservation and creation.

This rate relief and health insurance proposal has been approved within the slow and lengthy recovery of the economy from the recession.

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