Comment & Debate
Paul Hsieh. “Mandatory Health Insurance: Wrong for Massachusetts, Wrong for America”. The Objective Standard. Fall 2008: “Costs to the state government have skyrocketed and are projected to run hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. Because the mandated insurance is so expensive, the government has had to subsidize the costs of the premiums not only for lower-income residents, but also for residents with incomes as high as $60,000 for a family of four—which is three times the Federal Poverty Level.17 The state had expected a ‘significant drop in spending . . . for the uninsured” but has since acknowledged that this ‘is not going to happen to any large extent in 2009.’ Instead, overall costs to the state have risen by more than $400 million, 85 percent more than originally projected.”