Massachusetts: Portals to Shop for Health Insurance plans
July 31, 2008
In the state of Massachusetts, it is illegal not to have health insurance. The citizens face a tax penalty of $912 in case they don’t acquire health insurance. To help citizens, the state aids them in the selection process through a special web portal. The insurance mandate was passed by the state legislature in April of 2006 with an effective date of July 2007. By May 2007, the state needed to begin helping citizens in the insurance shopping process. This was needed to help citizens complete their important paperwork before the July deadline.
The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority has been established by the laws as a clearinghouse for payments and insurance plans from the private insurance providers. Full health insurance subsidies for those below the poverty line and partially subsidized insurance for those with three times the income from the poverty line, are granted by the Commonwealth Care. It took seven months to establish the Connector Authority, leaving only four months to develop and roll out a web site and also find a vendor. “Offering unsubsidized health insurance plans online” was the first of the three phrases that was premiered on the web site.
Dhiraj Goklani, Senior Account executive for Vignette Corp., the Connector’s portal vendor said that this was one of the fastest rollouts he had ever seen and for some thing that was so mission-critical. This is being seen as a positive step by the state to aid its citizens. It seems that this will go a long way in ensuring health insurance for the masses.
