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Red Sox go to bat for Mass. health care law

BOSTON (AP) — Going without health insurance is no day at the ballpark.

That’s the message from the Boston Red Sox and the state panel overseeing Massachusetts’ landmark health care insurance law.

The two are teaming up to launch a public education campaign, including television ads, to help Massachusetts residents understand the law ahead of a July 1 deadline by which virtually everyone in the state must be insured or face tax penalties.

The ads are set to be introduced Tuesday at a news conference at Fenway Park with top political leaders. The team and officials at the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, which oversees the law, declined to give additional details Monday.

Educating the public could prove daunting given the complexity of the law, which seeks to plug a series of holes in the state’s existing health care net.

Under the law, those making less than the federal poverty level of $10,210 for an individual are eligible to receive free care, while those making up to three times that level are eligible for discounted insurance.

Anyone with more than three times the federal poverty level can sign up for new, discounted health care plans offered through the connector authority.

Officials hope the new ads will support other public education efforts, including a hot line and new Web site.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:38 PM | Permalink