Universal Health Care: Mass Reality or Mass Resistance?

DEADLINE WAS YESTERDAY FOR MANDATORY COVERAGE UNDER NEW MASSACHUSETTS LAW

FITSNews – July 2, 2007 - There’s a great feature story in USA Today this morning about the status of the new Massachusetts law requiring every citizen to purchase health insurance. Dubbed “Romneycare,” the controversial plan was passed last year with the backing of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and figures to play prominently in the national health care debate as well as the 2008 presidential campaign. According to the article, the plan’s effectiveness hinges on whether or not the creation of an individual mandate will compel the 375,000 Bay Staters who are currently uninsured to purchase coverage. The law’s deadline for doing so was this Sunday. From the story:

The pressure is on because the number of uninsured who sign up is key to the law’s success: If large numbers of people — especially the young and healthy — flout the law, premiums could rise faster in future years, and the goal of cutting the number of uninsured to near zero would be lost.

Nearly forty-five million Americans are currently without health insurance, including an estimated 670,000 in South Carolina (16% of the state’s population), according to the website StateHealthFacts.org. Some say the actual number of uninsured South Carolinians is much higher – possibly between 800,000 and 1 million. Over the next few months, FITSNews will be looking closely at the status of health care in our state and various efforts to reduce the number of uninsured South Carolinians. Stay tuned …