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Report: Health Care Costs Have Leveled Off

A new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is contradicting the perception that the state's landmark health coverage law is a budget buster.

Enrollment in the state's subsidized insurance plans — and thus the cost of that program — spiked in the second year, raising concerns it was unaffordable. But both costs and enrollment have leveled off since then.

Taxpayers Foundation President Michael Widmer says on average, the state is spending $88 million more annually on health coverage now than it did before the law passed.

"I have found it rather striking that the public perception is that health reform is breaking the budget. That's just not the case," Widmer explains.

He says the state has held down costs by transferring most of the money it was spending on free care for the uninsured to insurance for those residents.

This program aired on May 19, 2009. The audio for this program is not available.

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