Mandatory universal coverage that ends up saving the taxpayers money? If that were the case, this would be a centerpiece of Romney’s campaign. Every state that has tried something similar has lost money hand over fist. I doubt Mass is any different.
If I understand Romney’s position correctly on this issue, his point is that currently there are people amongst the uninsured who can afford health insurance based on their income. When this group is faced with high hospital/doctor bills due to a serious health problem, the bills go unpaid.
Obviously these unpaid bills have to be picked up by somebody since there is no free lunch. That somebody is patients who carry health insurance in form of higher insurance premiums.
So by making health insurance mandatory atleast a portion of the burden is taken off the paying patients.
As for the indigent folks, you can’t extract blood from a turnip. Civilized society is stuck paying for them one way (free emergency room service) or the other (tax payer funded). Ofcourse there is a third alternative. Let the poor people fend for themselves. If they can’t get private charity to pay their bills, they can just suffer through it.