Massachusetts hospitals are the frontline of health reform implementation. Along with health centers, most of the people enrolling in MassHealth and Commonwealth Care are signing up where they get their health care. As it should be.
That’s why we’ve teamed up to produce and distribute a set of posters and brochures that will soon be available to help inform the public about the law and direct them to our doorsteps. The message is simple: “Do you need health insurance as required by law? We can help. Just ask.” When people come into the hospital or health center, we can determine whether they are eligible for one of the programs and help them select the right plan that is right for them.
Hospitals are seen as an important community resource to which people look for assistance. Businesses and individuals need help in navigating through this new health reform law. It can be a complicated maze of programs and options. Since hospitals, and our staff, need to understand the options, we can aid others who need to do the same.
It was clear to me recently, in addressing a group of Chamber of Commerce business leaders, that a lack of information and some misinformation is adding to the complication. Here’s what I heard: Folks are keenly interested in hearing about what the law means for them and clearly hungry for information about it. Where can you go and whom can you speak with?
There is no question that we have a big job ahead of us in educating the public. Hospitals in Massachusetts are committed to doing their part. We have to. There is simply too much at stake for all of us.
Michael V. Sack, FACHE
President and Chief Executive Officer
Hallmark Health System, Inc.
It’s a sorry state which, so economically stunted, suggests “hospitals” (basically, utilities) as its largest industry–and its engine of future growth. A growth which anticipates only cannibalizing its own citizens for cash which in turn is planned for removal to shareholders most of whom reside out of state.
Several hundred thousand residents have seen firsthand that their lives aren’t ruined by not participating in a privatized system that takes piles of their money, and in return delivers only endless reams of paperwork, substandard service and in many cases obstacles to reimbursement. They’ve seen their lives improved by avoidance of iatrogenic damage from unnecessary procedures and harmful products marketed as drugs.
When more mortgages go under, and more homes fail to sell, and more home values fall, and lay-offs rise, more citizens will evaluate what’s left of their finances because their employers will no longer be the artificial barrier, the buffer, between them and the cost of health as commercial enterprise. Their employers will no longer be there for them. And they alone will come face-to-face with the full brunt of Health Care, Inc. They too will wonder why they’re shoveling bales of money into sinkholes every month that grew larger only because their former employers where willing to pay for non-existent diseases in addition to real ones, and willing to pay for ego-stroking infrastructure that sold luxury instead of necessity.
They will not participate. There will not be a revenue stream.
Hospitals are seen as an important community resource to which people look for assistance. Businesses and individuals need help in navigating through this new health reform law. It can be a complicated maze of programs and options. Since hospitals, and our staff, need to understand the options, we can aid others who need to do the same.