tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3401584991689197404.post4591920892130464262..comments2024-03-02T09:41:35.809-08:00Comments on Donkeylicious - A Blog by Neil Sinhababu and Nicholas Beaudrot: Baucus Blunders, Part II: AffordabilityNeil Sinhababuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03249327186653397250noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3401584991689197404.post-5214151582814821452009-09-19T21:12:01.751-07:002009-09-19T21:12:01.751-07:00Here's a study I found at KFF that Messenia ma...Here's a study I found at KFF that Messenia may have meant: <a href="http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7976.pdf" rel="nofollow">CONSUMERS’ EXPERIENCE IN MASSACHUSETTS: LESSONS FOR NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM, SEPTEMBER 2009</a> :<br /><br />"In 2008, 17 percent of non-elderly Massachusetts<br />adults with incomes under 300 percent of FPL did not get needed care because of costs, and 26 percent had medical debt." (Note: slightly different figures are cited in the introduction.)<br /><br />I suppose one response is that most reforms will leave some with no net improvement; maybe I misunderstand M, but it's not clear that people in such situations (usu low income, bad employer plan with relatively high deductibles, copays, +/or premiums) are <i>worse</i> off than before the Connector/Commonwealth plan.<br /><br />I'm also not sure what happens to the Connector plan when/if national health care plan ((Baucus + HR3200)/2) is passed; does your chart illustrate how people would automatically become worse off, or how they would ignore the federal plan in favor of the Massachusetts one?Thomas Nephewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01019400893103077252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3401584991689197404.post-20897044676117761962009-09-17T08:52:56.517-07:002009-09-17T08:52:56.517-07:00Can you send me a link to that KFF study? I would ...Can you send me a link to that KFF study? I would be interested to read it.Nick Beaudrothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02794690208464883973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3401584991689197404.post-19876267523867192112009-09-17T05:07:24.294-07:002009-09-17T05:07:24.294-07:00I'm having quite a bit of difficulty with mean...I'm having quite a bit of difficulty with meaning of "affordable" as it is being discussed in this and other analyses of the Baucus proposal.<br /><br /><br />Just as insurance does equal care, premiums are not equivalent to cost. Affordable healthcare should mean that the cost of <i>treatment</i> is within the means of the patient. Where are these people supposed to get the money to pay for actual care after laying out so much on premiums? <br /><br />A recent Kaiser Foundation report about the Massachusetts experience noted 17% of those with insurance could not afford to get care and 26% had incurred medical debt. <br /><br />What is the purpose of "reform" if not to improve the ability of individuals to get <i>care</i> when they need it and not face financial instability when they get it? Delivering a captive market to for-profit insurance companies may help the insurance companies but it's really just cost shifting. It does nothing about the underlying problems <br />that are bankrupting individuals and all levels of government.Messenianoreply@blogger.com