Massachusetts Health Insurance Law
Massachusetts has reported that it has fined 100,000 of it’s people for “being able to afford” health insurance but not having it. They say they have raised over 9.7 million in fines which they are using to pay for this law which was estimated to cost over 900 million dollars.
Under this law you must prove that you cannot afford the insurance or be fined. They have set up some insurance plans that they say people who earn even three times the poverty level can apply for and get.
I have been around long enough to know that sometimes when you apply for state or federal assistance, they only look at your income, and maybe your rent/mortgage and utilities. That’s how they decide if you can afford it or not. They refuse to recognize credit cards, loans you may have, medical bills, school tuition’s, groceries, car gas, insurance, etc, etc, etc.
I do not know if this is the case in Massachusetts, but as an uninsured person myself, I resent the government telling me what I can and can’t afford, especially when they are responsible for taking some of my earnings to pay their own salaries so they can afford it.