As Massachusetts’s ambitious plan to provide universal healthcare coverage for all of its residents begins today with the program’s official launch, many reluctant residents say the plan punishes the poor with rates that are still unaffordable.

Starting today, all uninsured Massachusetts residents must purchase a health insurance plan from the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority by July 1 or later face tax penalties. The authority began offering the “Commonwealth Choice” program today on the Massachusetts website and through a telephone hotline.

While many lawmakers and healthcare professionals have applauded the plan — which they call the most comprehensive effort at universal health coverage in the nation to date — some community groups and residents themselves say the mandatory program unfairly burdens the poor with premiums they cannot afford.

Residents have the option to choose among six different providers, each of which will offer four plans ranging from high-premium plans with lower co-pays, to the basic Young Adult plan. Designed for the younger population, the plan offers low premiums but expensive prescription drug coverage. The monthly deductibles range from $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the provider.

Commonwealth Choice spokesman Paul Wingle said the state-sponsored program still offers rates considerably lower than traditional plans.

“There are a lot of younger people who before couldn’t probably afford health insurance,” Wingle said. “This new policy will change that.”

Massachusetts law requires college undergraduates to provide their own health coverage or to purchase a plan from their universities, but those graduating this year who are remaining in Massachusetts must find their own plans.

Though Wingle said the majority of insurance companies already insure full-time students up to age 25 under family plans, they do not account for the graduate-level students in their twenties who continue to live and work in the commonwealth after graduating and will now have to buy their own policies. This is an especially touchy issue for lawmakers who have vowed to put an end to the exodus of young people leaving the commonwealth because of the high cost of living.

Noreen Lawless, a Boston resident and aspiring actress, said she plans to purchase one of the new policies despite her reluctance to change insurance companies.

“As an actor, it is only if you are in the top earning percentage that you are covered by the [actor’s] union,” she said. “Although I am not thrilled about the idea of having to buy my new plan from the state, it is still slightly cheaper than what I am [currently] paying out-of-pocket.”

Lawless said she knows young adults are too often reluctant to seek treatment, and that mentality often translates to an unwillingness to purchase health insurance.

“With everything going around in this day and age, our generation would be putting themselves in danger by not purchasing their own policies,” she said.

“There aren’t a lot of young people who are going to be able to afford these plans,” said Ellen Kagan, host of public access television show “Your Health Care: Choice or Chance.”

Kagan, an outspoken critic of the commonwealth’s new healthcare system, predicted many residents will fall between the cracks as they did before.

“People aren’t going to be able to pay the $2,000 to $5,000 in deductibles, even if the government lowers the rates,” Kagan said. “The people who aren’t able to pay for a plan are just going to be penalized later in their taxes.”

Opponents of the healthcare initiative also criticize the commonwealth’s plan to require even small businesses to insure employees who do not buy individual plans or face a $295 annual penalty per uninsured employee.

“It seems as if employers would be better off just paying the penalty than actually giving their employees insurance,” Kagan said.

“The government is still treating healthcare like a commodity and not a human right,” said Alliance to Defend Health Care Executive Director Ann Eldridge. “Even with the addition of new health plans, people will still not receive good treatment until the healthcare system prioritizes patient care above profit.”

It seems there will still be at least some level of a transitional period into the new policy. Commonwealth Connector spokesman Richard Powers said people who fail to purchase plans by the July 1 deadline for legitimate reasons — specifically, those whose income falls at 300 percent below the Federal Poverty Level – will still not be punished.

“For people who are unable to afford the policies right away, there will be exemptions and waivers,” Powers said.

Under the plan, the cost of providing emergency care for the uninsured will put less of a strain on the state budget, Powers said.

“This means that more people who fall below that poverty line will be taken care of, and the state will be able to afford it,” he said.