Massachusetts scored another point yesterday for social progress.

It became the first state to establish universal health care coverage after its government passed a bill Tuesday. Now all legal Massachusetts residents, including college students and recent graduates, will have their democratic right to health care.

Universal health care has long been dismissed by some as a crazy-liberal, impractical dream, even though many developed nations including Australia, Sweden and Canada have universal health care and insurance systems.

But Massachusetts’ policy-makers have woken from their dream and have made this universal coverage practical. The law does not place all the costs on the government and create so-called handouts. It operates largely through the private sector, holding companies and individuals responsible for protecting the health of citizens.

The government will subsidize private insurance companies to allow them to help out those who cannot afford the full costs. Businesses with more than 10 employees that do not provide health insurance as a benefit will be fined about $300 for each uninsured employee. It will also require any person who can afford health care to purchase it.

The idea that a person is required to purchase a social service might at first seem a bit too demanding, but it is in every person’s interest to have health insurance, as it guarantees protection if he or she were to suddenly need health care. Uninsured people not only pay the most for their health care, but also yank more tax payers’ dollars whenever they cannot foot the bill.

The law contains a sliding scale of how much health insurance a person can afford. People ages 19 to 26, including college graduates who often lack it, could purchase a lower-cost basic plan, according to The New York Times. And they should. Many college grads choose to pay for cable – why not their health?

They’re too cocky and naive, Massachusetts officials discovered. Young men, college graduates, are the least likely to purchase health insurance even though they often earn good salaries, at least 300 times above the poverty level.

‘These are people who just don’t imagine themselves needing care, but of course when they break a leg when they’re out bungee jumping, they go to the hospital and we end up paying for their care anyway,’ said Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor’s communications director, in The Times.

So the law forces those who can afford it to protect themselves (and others’ wallets) and protects those people who cannot afford it. It might possess some flaws, but it is America’s best attempt so far at rethinking health care policy. Massachusetts’ liberals have proved they’re not crazy; they’re right.