It works on a sliding scale. So you only pay a portion if you are under a certain income level. We have 96% of the state covered. The bill that Gov Romney signed into law took care of the coverage problem, but it never worked out the cost problem. We still have high costs because health insurers can charge us more (because we have to have HC insurance), but mostly because the second part of Romney's plan, the part that dealt with hospital costs, was never put into law.
The best solution is the one that Maryland has put in place which uses cost controls.