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Massachusetts Sets Benefits in Universal Health Care Plan |
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From New York Times: Massachusetts took a major step toward enacting its near-universal health care overhaul, with the board that oversees the plan voting on Tuesday to require insurers to provide certain minimum benefits, including coverage of prescription drugs. The requirements were worked out over several months and include several compromises, balancing the interests of businesses, insurers and health care advocates. For example, the board, called the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, agreed to phase in some of its requirements, giving residents and employers an extra 18 months to buy health plans that meet all the new criteria. The goal of the health insurance law, passed in April 2006, was to make sure that most of the state's uninsured residents, about 515,00 people, would be covered. Those who fail to get insurance would face penalties that could include the loss of a personal income tax deduction.
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