By Susanne King, appearing originally on the editorial page of the Berkshire Eagle

Writing about the Massachusetts health care reform program in a 2009 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Governor Deval Patrick stated, “Because of our reform… families are less likely to be forced into bankruptcy by medical costs.”   Both Governor Patrick and President Obama have used the benchmark of medical bankruptcy as a key measure to prove the success of their health insurance reforms.  Unfortunately, according to a study this month from Harvard University by Dr. David Himmelstein and associates, the absolute number of medical bankruptcies in Massachusetts increased between 2007 and 2009, the years after health care reform had been enacted.  Dr. Himmelstein commented, “Massachusetts health reform, like the national law modeled after it, takes many of the uninsured and makes them under-insured, typically giving them a skimpy defective policy that’s like an umbrella that melts in the rain.  The protection’s not there when you need it.”

For example, in Boston, the least expensive individual coverage available to a fifty six-year-old carries an annual premium of $5,616 and a deductible of $2000, and even then only covers 80% of the next $15,000 cost for covered services.  Therefore, someone with a chronic condition like diabetes could have to pay $10,000 annually out of pocket, in addition to the premium.