Physician David Gratzer explains the significance:
On Jan. 19, Massachusetts votes for a new senator. Will the Bay State upend politics the way Pennsylvania did in 1991, sending Washington a strong message on health care?
Bay State voters may be decidedly liberal, but they understand a thing or two about sweeping health reforms, having passed their own legislation back in 2006. An expansion of Medicaid, subsidies for those with low income, an insurance exchange, a mandate for individuals to buy insurance — all of these ideas that are core to Obamacare already passed in the Bay State a few years ago.
And, by all accounts, the experiment has been problematic. Yes, the total number of uninsured has dropped. But insurance premiums soared, boasting double-digit annual increases. The Boston Globe recently proclaimed that Massachusetts now has the highest insurance costs in the country.
