This illustrates the fact that health insurance and healthcare are completely different things. Just because you have insurance doesn't mean you can access healthcare. It also illustrates the failure of RomneyCare. You can't provide universal healthcare through the American health insurance market. Rather than recognize this fact the governor and legislature supported by the Globe are pushing a return to the failed systems of the 90s that caused problems we still live with today. "about 90 percent of every premium dollar in Massachusetts is required by the state to go toward paying hospitals and doctors for medical care." - This doesn't include the cost of the massive administrative structure providers must support to deal with the insurance parasites. The effort expended in pre-approvals appeals, fighting to get paid isn't free. All of this is a cost associated with the insurance industry but is rarely mentioned.

The following comments are mine. I'm repeating them from my comments about the Health Care Reform Act article on 6/11/2012 since they apropos : The current healthcare system in the United States is Ptolemaic with or without the Affordable Care Act. The "not-for-profit" insurance driven "business" that rewards its CEO's (and I add to this the many layered management apparatus) millions of dollars in compensation, even when they underperform is a disgrace. Board members "in name only" also get rewards $ for rubberstamping pre-made decisions. It is a house of very expensive and life threatening cards that will fall with or without a positive or negative ruling by the Supreme Court. An examination of the many Health Exchanges proposed or being discussed when examined just add costs to those who can least afford it. And the ones they can afford usually do not cover a costly illness or disease. Good luck, America.

Does this really surprise anyone? Say you fall and you pay $25 co-pay to have your primary care physician send you to the ER where you pay a $100 co-pay and then a prescription co-pay is $50, there is of course a follow-up appointment with another doctor which is $25 and he gives you a new prescription also $50. That's $250 in co-pays in about 48 hours. That of course doesn't play into the $250 a month you are paying for insurance coverage. Does the average person have $500 a month to spare? Everyday people decide that they will keep their eye glasses another year because they can't afford the cost of the exam and new glasses, many also skip pills at least once a week to extend expensive prescriptions and even more just won't go see a doctor unless they are critically ill, not because they don't have health insurance, but they know that the "out-of-pocket" expenses will be more than they can afford. At the rate such out-of-pocket expenses are climbing, wellness may be too expensive for the average person who doesn't have deep pockets.