As a resident of the Bay State, I can say with some authority that:
1. Health insurance costs a fortune here; and,
2. Those who manage to scrape together enough cash to furnish their own health insurance are being dunned yearly to pay for those busily sucking away at the public teat.
In other words, don’t bother to weep for the Birthplace of American Liberty - it fell to the Marxists long ago.
After visiting Boston, part of me has a fantasy of moving to MA. Then I read posts like yours (and articles like this) and realize even though I could survive being surrounded by liberals, we could not financially survive. Can’t even get a shack for the price of our small 1200 sq. foot house anywhere within an hour of BOS.
I am also a resident, and about 7 years ago I was out of work for some time and the state was going to force me to buy health Insurance that I could not afford, so I didn’t, well, because, I couldn’t. I love this area of the country, and jobs are a-plenty here (lots of high-tech and health-care jobs) so as difficult as it is to be surrounded by liberal zombies, the Northeast is a great place to be. I have had to limit my exposure to the uniformed socialist agenda, but am also pretty quick to put them in their place with real facts. It’s kind of fun, actually.