I Guess The Spin On Healthcare Reform Isn't Working

Yesterday's Kansas City Star posted an Associated Press article detailing the results of the election held in that state. 

According to the article:

"About 71 percent of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them for not having it.

"The Missouri law conflicts with a federal requirement that most people have health insurance or face penalies starting in 2014."

There are some real questions as to the actual value of the vote (federal law trumps state law), but the vote is an indication of public opinion on Obamacare. 

I live in Massachusetts, where a state healthcare reform law went into effect in 2006.  This state health insurance reform was said to be one of the models for Obamacare.  Well, the results have been mixed at best.  There was a letter to the editor in my local paper yesterday from a Massachusetts couple stating that their monthly cost for the wife's health insurance has increased $50 a month.  The couple is planning to cancel their health insurance at the end of August because they cannot afford to pay the increase.  Since the passage of the state health insurance reform, Massachusetts health insurance rates have increased rapidly.  The governor recently turned down requests from major health insurance providers for rate increases that would cover their increased expenses caused by the reform. 

In addition Dark Daily reports:

"In May, the four largest health insurers in Massachusetts reported first quarter losses that reached a total of $150 million. Three of these insurers drew down reserves. For example, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, which is the largest health insurer in the state, reported a quarterly loss of $65.2 million, along with an operating loss of $95.5 million. It drew down its operating reserve by $55 million to handle those losses, as well as losses anticipated to occur during the second quarter of 2010."

The article at Dark Daily also points out that small employers in Massachusetts are beginning to drop health insurance coverage of employees and paying the penalty to the state instead.  The state will collect money under that arrangement, but there are no guarantees that the money collected would be spent in any way that would benefit or support healthcare.  That is ultimately the direction in which Obamacare will lead us.