Health Care Crisis Can Not Be Solved By Universal Insurance Coverage Alone, Says Mass Sec. Of Health

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News

Universal insurance coverage alone will not solve the health care crisis said Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human services JudyAnn Bigby Tuesday during remarks on “The Massachusetts Model for Health Care Reform: Lessons Learned” at the Health Resources and Services Administrations Summit on the Future of Primary Care in Rural and Urban America.

“We have no illusions about how difficult this is and how long it will take,” Bigby said. “We don’t feel that simply making sure that everyone has insurance is the answer to the problem.”

Bigby stressed that while there is a lot to be learned from Massachusetts’ attempt at health care reform, passing the same reform nationally would be problematic since, as Bigby noted, reform means different things to different groups.

“Part of the difficulty with a national debate on health care reform is we don’t really all speak the same language about what reform means,” said the Secretary. “When we talk about reform in Massachusetts, we recognize that we have multiple segments within the health care regulatory system, the health care payment system and that we have to coordinate our efforts if we are going to see true reform and long lasting effects.”

The Massachusetts health care reform, which was signed into law in 2006, mandates that those that can afford to must purchase health insurance, either from a private insurer or through the state’s exchange program. In 2006, 7.4% of Massachusetts residents were uninsured which has fallen to 2.6% in 2009. Responding to a question regarding the exclusion of the state’s subsidized program from the exchange, Bigby said it allows them to better the administration of the system.

“Quite frankly we do not believe…that any program that looks like medicaid should be in the exchange,” said Bigby. “It would be, administratively, a nightmare.”

The Secretary dismissed claims that the Massachusetts health reform was costing more than was budgeted for.

“The notion that this is costing the state much more than they anticipated and much more than they budgeted for is simply not true.”