Health insurance deadline looms

LYNN – Important deadlines – and penalties for missing them – are looming for Massachusetts residents who do not have health insurance.Massachusetts adults who have not been exempted from the state’s new Commonwealth Care health insurance system are currently required to sign up for an insurance plan.Those who do not have insurance by Dec. 31 will lose their personal exemption worth $219 when filing their state tax return next spring. In addition, many residents who may have relied on the uncompensated care pool will no longer be eligible for free care, if they are eligible for a Commonwealth Care plan.On Jan. 1, the 2008 penalties will be significantly more than $219 for most uninsured. The penalty will accrue for each month someone goes without coverage and could be up to half the cost of an insurance plan.”We want people insured, not penalized,” said Health Connector Executive Director Jon Kingsdale. “All of us are better off when we have the security of a good health insurance plan.”By providing every Massachusetts resident with health insurance, the new system – in concept at least – should shift state dollars from reimbursing hospitals like Salem and Union for treating uninsured and underinsured patients to paying for these patients’ insurance.State reimbursements to the hospitals for the free care the hospitals provided fell $18 million short in 2004 and 2005 and $20 million short in 2003 and 2004.Some people who enroll in the new system will be required to help pay for their insurance. Lynn Community Health Center Director Lori Berry worries the payment requirement may discourage some people from enrolling in the system.She urged anyone who needs insurance to talk to an enrollment specialist at the Center’s 23 Central Ave. office.Berry said the number of people signing up for insurance through Center enrollment specialists surged prior to the Dec. 1 cutoff for free care coverage.”We have been jammed with people coming out of the woodwork to enroll,” she said.Information and enrollment materials are available online at www.MAhealthconnector.org and can also be obtained weekdays by calling the Health Connector’s toll-free line, 1-877-MA-ENROLL.”The education and enrollment of Massachusetts residents into comprehensive health insurance plans is an ongoing process,” said Kingsdale. “We remain committed to simplifying the experience for everyone.”