Ten states have uninsured rates below 5 percent. What are they doing right?
Universal health care remains an unrealized dream for the United States. But in some parts of the country, the dream has drawn closer to a reality in the 13 years since the Affordable Care Act passed.
Overall, the number of uninsured Americans has fallen from 46.5 million in 2010, the year President Barack Obama signed his signature health care law, to about 26 million today. The US health system still has plenty of flaws — beyond the 8 percent of the population who are uninsured, far higher than in peer countries, many of the people who technically have health insurance still find it difficult to cover their share of their medical bills. Nevertheless, more people enjoy some financial protection against health care expenses than in any previous period in US history.
Having health insurance does not mean having “good” health insurance. You can have a pretty shitty plan and still be paying for 90% of your healthcare.
Massachusetts Medicaid (called MassHealth) is the single best health insurance plan I have ever had in my entire adult life. I genuinely wish I could opt out of my trash United HealthCare plan that my employer provides and go back on MassHealth instead.