A 50-State Healthcare Solution?

April 6, 2006

USA Today reports that several states are taking the initiative from the federal government in expanding health care coverage. Among the proposals:

• Massachusetts lawmakers on Tuesday approved a law that would require everyone in the state to carry health insurance by 2007 or risk losing tax credits or facing fines. Employers would have to offer coverage or pay a $295 per worker annual assessment.

• Maryland has a law requiring some large employers to pay for coverage — and more than two dozen others are considering similar rules.

• Kansas, Maine and Minnesota and others are creating ways to help small businesses buy insurance.

• Oregon, New Mexico, California and Arizona are debating proposals to create universal health coverage for all residents.

“I’m excited by what is going on out there,” says Jack Meyer of the Economic & Social Research Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. “I don’t particularly want a 50-state solution, but we can certainly learn from what states are doing.”