Reply #37: "Mass has the lowest uninsured rate in the country!!" Oh, goody -- it also has the highest premiums

[brentspeak]

How come you failed to highlight that important fact? Duh.

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/08/22/bay_state_health_insurance_premiums_highest_in_country/

Bay State health insurance premiums highest in country
Rein in health costs, Massachusetts urged

By Kay Lazar
Globe Staff / August 22, 2009

Massachusetts has the most expensive family health insurance premiums in the country, according to a new analysis that highlights the state’s challenge in trying to rein in medical costs after passage of a landmark 2006 law that mandated coverage for nearly everyone.

The report by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care foundation, showed that the average family premium for plans offered by employers in Massachusetts was $13,788 in 2008, 40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent.