March 2005

Low-cost healthcare in Massachusetts
may not include chiropractic

The commonwealth of Massachusetts would provide lower-cost but “first-class” healthcare for its uninsured citizens, if Gov. Mitt Romney’s proposal is enacted. But the healthcare plan might not include chiropractic care, according to a story inThe Boston Globe.

The health insurance the governor is proposing would not be “bare-bones” but would include preventive care, mental healthcare and coverage for prescription drugs. The governor detailed his plans at a forum sponsored by MassINC, a nonpartisan think tank. He said that details of the plans would be worked out with insurers and would be subject to state approval. No state money would be involved, he said.

According to the newspaper story, Romney’s staff said insurers might decide not to cover chiropractic care, home care or in vitro fertilization. Hospital and surgical care would have to be covered, but no decision had been made about maternity care.

The proposed insurance is part of a plan Romney presented in November to cover the state’s 450,000 uninsured. The plan also includes signing up 106,000 more people for Medicaid and setting up a new system of care for the estimated 150,000 people who cannot afford even lower-cost insurance.

Romney said he expects to work with the Legislature to pass a law allowing and defining the new plans by the end of 2005. State law currently requires insurers to provide more-comprehensive coverage.

Source. The Boston Globe, www.globe.com

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