Defining Affordability —
Between June and December 2006, approximately 630 members of religious congregations in the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization participated in small-group “affordability workshops” to determine the viability of the 2006 health care reform legislation's “Individual Mandate” provision given the real life expenses of Massachusetts residents. Each workshop participant constructed a detailed monthly budget, and subtracted all of his/her non-discretionary, non-health-care expenses from monthly income in order to identify how much was left over to purchase health insurance if required by mandate.
After submitting the data collected at these workshops to researchers at Tufts and Brandeis Universities, GBIO discovered that 46.1% of respondents between 100–300% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) would have to go into debt to afford even the subsidized health insurance products they would be required to purchase under the Individual Mandate. Of the respondents between 300–500% FPL, 39.4% could not afford premiums at the $380/month price point currently being considered by the Commonwealth Connector Board, the agency charged with implementing Massachusetts health care reform.
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