Boston – The Massachusetts health plan, the first in the U.S. requiring medical insurance for all residents, won approval from the federal government Wednesday, helping to ensure coverage for the poorest citizens.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt signed a waiver that will allow the state to receive $385 million to help pay for the care of the poor and enable low-income workers to buy insurance.
The legislation, signed into law in April by Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, was passed under pressure from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The agency said it would cut the allocation for care of the poor if the state didn’t enact reforms by July 1. The bill is hailed as a model for other U.S. states.
“This is serious innovation,” Leavitt said Wednesday at a Boston news conference. “There are serious ideas being tried here that we’ll all learn from.”
The funding will help about 200,000 residents buy health care, Romney said.
The waiver will help more low-income workers buy health insurance by raising eligibility criteria to 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
