Health-care agency sick

bostonherald.com
By Margery Eagan
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Updated 50 minutes ago

Lauren and Nick Destito had a wonderful life in Plainville. They paid their bills and raised two sons in a lovely four-bedroom colonial that they were just eight years away from owning outright.

But the economy collapsed in 2008 and soon crushed the small tree and landscaping business the couple had run since 1984.

Now, the state of Massachusetts is grinding the Destitos into the dirt. The reason: the health insurance the Destitos bought, paid $750 monthly premiums on and repeatedly used at doctor visits apparently does not pass muster with the state’s mandatory universal health insurance law. Now the Destitos, both 50 and already on the brink of financial ruin, are facing a $3,000 state fine.

“The stress will kill me before anything else,â€