Polemic Assignment progress

I've decided to use this blog and future blogs to share the progress of my Polemic Assignment with the rest of the class. I plan to post the outline of each section along with the section as it will be seen in my paper. To start off, I will post the Introduction here.

I. Introduction

a. Establish the context

i. Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law

ii. Recent history of the law

b. Identify your stake

i. Affects on me as a citizen

1. Possible national health care plan

2. Possible mandatory health care in RI

c. Thesis

i. This law should be evaluated as a potential model for other states with similar health care characteristics as Massachusetts

1. Percentage of citizens without health care insurance

2. Size/Population of the state

ii. Begin with local plans instead of a national plan

The number of Americans without health insurance has become a serious issue in the United States. Along with every other state, Massachusetts has had a growing number of uninsured citizens. From 2004 to 2006, the average number of people without health insurance coverage in Massachusetts was 653,000, or about 10.3 percent of the total population.[1] This number was relatively small compared to the number of uninsured citizens in other states, but it still had a large impact on Massachusetts. Massachusetts has found a way to resolve their problem of uninsured citizens but the question is whether or not other states can do the same.

Introduction

Context

As the Obama Administration strives for national health care, they might want to take a look at what the state of Massachusetts has done to improve their health care system. The Massachusetts Health Care Reform Bill, also known as Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, was signed into law by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney on April 12, 2006.1 The law contains many terms: an individual mandate, an employer mandate, a new Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, and the Commonwealth Care Health Insurance Program.1 For more details on the terms of the law, look at “The 2006 Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law: Progress and Challenges After One Year of Implementation,” an article written by Alan G. Raymond, a writer and communications consultant with 25 years of professional involvement in health care and health care reform.

Stake

As a citizen of the United States, I have a personal stake in this issue. There is a possibility that the Obama Administration could use the Massachusetts Health Care Law as a model for the national health care plan that they are striving for. If health care was ever to be nationally mandated, I and every other citizen of the US would be affected in some way. There is also a possibility that Rhode Island, my home state, could adopt a health care plan similar to Massachusetts. If that were to happen, then a majority of my family and I would be affected as citizens of the state of Rhode Island.

Thesis

The Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law should be evaluated as a potential model for other states that are looking to resolve the problem of citizens lacking health insurance coverage. The states that choose to use the MA law as a potential model should have similar characteristics as Massachusetts when it comes to health care and the percentage of uninsured citizens in the state. If the Obama Administration ever decided to use the MA law as a model for the nation, they should form a plan that is based locally rather than nationally.

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[1] Raymond, Alan G. "The 2006 Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law: Progress and Challenges After One Year of Implementation." May 2007. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute; The Massachusetts Health Policy Forum. 16 Nov. 2008 .