Free Republic

Gov. Deval Patrick is absolutely right: Don’t blame Cleve Killingsworth for your insurance premiums going up so high, so fast. Blame the man who’s truly responsible — Deval Patrick. Killingsworth is the Miami Heat of Massachusetts health care. It’s hard to believe someone that expensive could suck that bad. But as offensive as Killingsworth’s $11 million buyout may be, AFL-CIO president and Blue Cross Blue Shield board member Robert Haynes had it right: “With $13 billion in revenue, it’s like pennies,” he said of the board’s compensation. Complaining about Killingsworth’s incompetence is like complaining about a leaky bathtub on the...

More get waivers of health insuranceState panel cites economy as factor Flexibility called model for US plan By Kay Lazar - Globe Staff / February 7, 2011 Massachusetts regulators granted more exemptions last year to residents who said they could not afford the health insurance required by the state, waiving the tax penalty for more than half of those who appealed, according to state data. Of the 2,637 people who applied, 63 percent received an exemption with 107 cases pending, up from 44 percent the previous year. State officials said they excused the majority of waiver applicants in large part...

Everyone knows that Obamacare was loosely modeled on the refrom undertaken in Massachusetts. So how’s MA doing? About exactly as you’d expect. This summer the Boston Globe wrote that: The relentlessly rising cost of health insurance is prompting some small Massachusetts companies to drop coverage for their workers and encourage them to sign up for state-subsidized care instead, a trend that, some analysts say, could eventually weigh heavily on the state’s already-stressed budget. Unable to stop the bleeding, Massachusetts has resorted to price controls: In February, the governor filed sweeping legislation that proposes to give the Division of Insurance the...