New York Times Correction On Mass. Premium Prices

Today's New York Times runs this correction:

An article on March 28 about the requirement that most Massachusetts residents have health insurance gave an incomplete account of the options that Wayde Lodor, an independent consultant from Leominster, had for buying health coverage. While Mr. Lodor, after researching several plans, estimated he would have to spend at least $1,200 a month to insure himself and his daughter, he could in fact have bought coverage through the state’s insurance exchange for significantly less.

Let's take a look back and see what the story said. it described Wayde Lodor as one of the roughly 120,000 Massachusetts residents who still lack health insurance, and said he faces a penalty this year for making enough money to afford insurance but not buying it.

“I’m in good shape, I don’t eat meat, I don’t drink excessively, I’ve never smoked,” said Mr. Lodor, 53, who estimates he would have to spend at least $1,200 a month to cover himself and his college-age daughter. “The last thing I’m going to do is not pay my rent because I have to pay for some state-mandated health coverage that I don’t think I need.”

According to Connector spokesman Richard Powers, "Policies through the Connector for himself and his daughter start at $652. The story says his daughter is “college-age.” If she is enrolled in a Massachusetts college, I would assume she is getting coverage through the school since college students in this state have been required to have insurance since the 1980s. If that is true, the gentleman would only have to purchase coverage for himself. Commonwealth Choice plans for individuals his age start at $350."

Once again, Massachusetts came out looking a bit distorted in the national mirror. May I self-indulgently note that I wrote about this in Friday's post, "10 Signs That Mass. Mostly Likes Health Reform, Really and Truly"? An interesting back-and-forth follows in that post's Comments section.