Ballot Campaign To Repeal Insurance Mandate Ends In Mass.
This story is part of a reporting partnership that includs ,听
and Kaiser Health News.
If Massachusetts residents chafe at the requirement that they have health insurance, they’ll have to endure it longer. They won鈥檛 have a chance to vote against it 鈥 not in the next election, anyway.
Backers of a ballot measure to repeal the state鈥檚 insurance mandate sent out an email last week saying they had failed to gather the needed signatures. (Points to policy-types-turned-crack-reporters Brian Rosman of Health Care for All and John McDonough of Harvard for reporting that development and .)
The ballot initiative鈥檚 organizers say their bid to derail the individual mandate failed because supporters were torn.
One group, those involved with Massachusetts Citizens for Life, worried about dividing their efforts between two ballot questions next year, one that would allow assisted suicide and one that would repeal the insurance mandate. In the end, fighting the assisted suicide question won.
In addition, conservative backers 鈥渨ere very concerned that this would make Mitt Romney look bad, and as they support him in the primaries they didn鈥檛 want to sign on to this, or donate to it or work for it鈥 says Bridget Fay with
Most of the 45,000 people who signed the repeal petition did so because they鈥檙e frustrated with the national health care law, says Fay, and wanted to make that point. But some, including Fay, object to the mandate and penalty in Massachusetts. Fay has insurance that does not meet the state鈥檚 minimum insurance standard so she pays an annual fine. 鈥淚t鈥檚 ridiculous,鈥 she says, 鈥渢o pay a penalty for having insurance just because it isn鈥檛 good enough.鈥
Organizers of the ballot question are working with legislators on a bill that would get rid of the insurance mandate. They hope to file the legislation next year.
Health Care for All鈥檚 Brian Rosman says on the groups’ , 鈥淸I]t鈥檚 telling that despite the huge uproar against the mandate in national politics, not a single bill has been introduced in the Massachusetts legislature to repeal the mandate or the health reform law.鈥 Rosman says the law still has strong support.
