A few days ago, I discussed some of the pros and cons of Massachusetts\’ law requiring residents to purchase health care.  Apparently the final piece of the puzzle has been finalized – the subsidy system is \”poised\” to become law.  From the New York Times:

State officials said that under the plan, they expected that all but about 65,000 of the 328,000 adults who are currently uninsured would be able to get affordable coverage.

The proposal sets a sliding scale of affordability standards in which, for example, a single person earning $40,001 a year would be expected to pay no more than 9 percent of income, or about $300 a month, for health insurance; a single person earning $25,000 a year would be expected to pay a much smaller percentage, about 3.3 percent of income, or $70 a month.

File this in the \”con\” column.  If you think government can determine, with surgical-like precision, subsidy amounts, percentage of income and eligibility for all citizens, then I want some of what you\’re drinking.  There\’s just no way.

In fact, as the Boston Globe reports, the new plan exempts 20% of the uninsured from the mandate, in order to avoid a backlash.  Of course, it is advocates for the poor that are pushing for more exemptions, even though it is the poorest people that the new plan is supposed to help the most.