Health Care for Everyone? (Mitt Romney Op-Ed)

Wall Street Journal ^ | April 11, 2006 | Governor Mitt Romney

[RWR8189]

BOSTON--Only weeks after I was elected governor, Tom Stemberg, the founder and former CEO of Staples, stopped by my office. He told me, "If you really want to help people, find a way to get everyone health insurance." I replied that would mean raising taxes and a Clinton-style government takeover of health care. He insisted: "You can find a way."

I believe that we have. Every uninsured citizen in Massachusetts will soon have affordable health insurance and the costs of health care will be reduced. And we will need no new taxes, no employer mandate and no government takeover to make this happen.

When I took up Tom's challenge, I assembled a team from business, academia and government and asked them first to find out who was uninsured, and why. What they found was surprising. Some 20% of the state's uninsured population qualified for Medicaid but had never signed up. So we built and installed an Internet portal for our hospitals and clinics: When uninsured individuals show up for treatment, we enter their data online. If they qualify for Medicaid, they're enrolled. Another 40% of the uninsured were earning enough to buy insurance but had chosen not to do so. Why? Because it is expensive, and because they know that if they become seriously ill, they will get free or subsidized treatment at the hospital. By law, emergency care cannot be withheld. Why pay for something you can get free?

Of course, while it may be free for them, everyone else ends up paying the bill, either in higher insurance premiums or taxes. The solution we came up with was to make private health insurance much more affordable. Insurance reforms now permit policies with higher deductibles, higher copayments, coinsurance, provider networks and fewer mandated benefits like in vitro fertilization--and our

[Gigantor]

Sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it?

Until everyone who is forced to buy the insurance decides to use it and the costs are higher than the revenue, so the 'affordable' premiums rise and the vicious cycle begins.

[goldstategop]

Mitt Romney made a good observation about Massachusetts innovative universal health care plan:

"Some of my libertarian friends balk at what looks like an individual mandate. But remember, someone has to pay for the health care that must, by law, be provided: Either the individual pays or the taxpayers pay. A free ride on government is not libertarian."

Health care is not free. Either the individual pays or the taxpayers do. And from a conservative point of view, if someone can pay for their own care, that's what they ought to do.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Panerai]

Last week Hillary Clinton praised Romney's health plan. That should tell you something.

[goldstategop]

The idea is to make PRIVATE health insurance affordable and accessible. Unless you want Canada-style Medicare here, I think its the only way to go that's also politically feasible.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[cherry]

let's see now.....we pay extra for the Medicare crowd.....we pay huge premiums even though we're not sickly.....and we get huge income and Social security taxes.......

even with all that, we still can't loddy-da up to any old doctor and get what we want.....we have to make appts, pay deductibles, and get prior authorizations for many things, eg....getting a CT, Mri, Mra or similar in one year makes you persona non grata and requires that you PROVE that you need another one, even if its a differant body system.....

but by all means, lets give seniors all the free drugs they want......

[texastoo]

When over 75% of the health care in the south Texas valley,(approximately 1 million people} is paid for by the government, you can bet socialized medicine is right around the corner. This is just one of the few benefits of illegal aliens all the while the MSM will be blaming those nasty lawyers.

[Echo Talon]

Lets see Mitt, you are forcing people to do something, is that freedom?

[goldstategop]

We're all required to do things we don't like every day. Freedom comes with responsibilities. If we don't like it, we can go back to being happy slaves and get relieved of the mere burden of having to make decisions at all.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[texastoo]

Too Bad! I saws an ad on TV yesterday that said "VIVA Medicare". That should tell you something right there.

[Lancey Howard]

....I proposed that everyone must either purchase a product of their choice or demonstrate that they can pay for their own health care. It's a personal responsibility principle.

Gotta love government-mandated "personal responsibility".

My Democratic counterparts have added an annual $295 per-person fee charged to employers that do not contribute toward insurance premiums for any of their employees. The fee is unnecessary and probably counterproductive, and so I will take corrective action.

I'll give Mitt credit for this if he keeps his word.

[Jack Hammer]

Sorry, Mitt, but your glib ex culpa won't wash. Socialism by any other name is still socialism; you've demonstrated to the nation a tolerance of, if not an outright enthusaism for, the principles of Karl Marx; and your career is toast.

[goldstategop]

We're already required to have auto insurance. This is an extension of that rule. The basic idea is if you can insure yourself, don't expect the taxpayers to. It isn't even controversial.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[goldstategop]

How is it Marxism if the government is not picking and choosing your insurance or making your health care decisions for you? Now that would be socialized medicine. We get people away from entitlements and ask them to take care of their own health and we see vociferous opposition to the notion the taxpayers shouldn't be taken along for a ride. Its fascinating.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Panerai]

At best Romney has been a mediocre Governor of Massachusetts, and now he's running a RINO campaign for President.

[Echo Talon]

wonder if the illegals will start migrating up to Massachusetts in mass

[goldstategop]

Are you saying it would have been better if Masaachusetts had Hillarycare? I don't think so. shudder>

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[DB]

It simply won't work.

There's no difference between being forced to send money to an insurance company or the government. Either is a tax by force of government.

Lower and middle income people will not pay their way. The result is no different, everyone else is forced to make up the difference.

What's worse is that people that need expensive operations (or other procedures) will simply move to the state, pay some artificially low "insurance" rate and have the rest of the state's citizens pay their expenses. When done they'll leave.

Soon to be a bankrupt state.

[al_again]

Why bother trying??? This crowd does not have the ability to think through its own arguments.

[goldstategop]

If you're right, then we as might as well drop private insurance altogether and adopt Canada Medicare. If you don't even have faith the private sector can offer people better options, lower costs and healthier lives, then its time to turn the country over to the Democrats.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")