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Massachusetts legislature passes monumental healthcare bill

Patient Financial Services Weekly Advisor, April 7, 2006

The Massachusetts state legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday which aims to provide nearly universal healthcare coverage for the state's 515,000 uninsured citizens, reports the New York Times.

Gov. Mitt Romney said he will also sign off on the bill.

The measure, which is unique in that it's the first bill of its kind to design a system by which most citizens will receive health insurance, passed 154 to 2 in the House and 37 to 0 in the Senate. It will cost $1.2 billion over three years, but only $125 million of that will be new state money.

The bill requires all Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage by July 1, 2007. The state will penalize those who can afford private insurance on their state income taxes if they do not purchase it.

Government subsidies to private insurers will allow more of the working poor to purchase insurance and will expand the number of children who are eligible for free coverage.

Businesses with more than 10 workers that don't provide insurance will be assessed up to $295 per employee each year.

The plan, according to legislators, will leave less than 1% of the population uninsured.

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