RomneyCare Revisited

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 01-21-10 | The Wall Street Journal Editorial Staff

[GOP_Lady]

What Massachusetts voters knew about health reform.

Liberals are now trying to sell the fantasy, and maybe even convince themselves, that ObamaCare isn't among the reasons Senator-elect Scott Brown is headed to Washington. One of the only Massachusetts exit polls doesn't corroborate the story: Rasmussen reports that 51% of voters on Tuesday were opposed and 47% in favor—41% "strongly opposed" and just 25% "strongly in favor." Health care was the decisive factor for 56%.

Perhaps that's because Bay State residents know something the rest of the country doesn't. In 2006, then GOP Governor Mitt Romney brought about a universal insurance plan that bears an uncanny resemblance to ObamaCare—and a meticulous new study confirms that the result has been high costs in return for minimal benefits.

Using the Census Bureau's current population survey, University of Kentucky economist Aaron Yelowitz and Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute studied RomneyCare between 2005 and 2008—that is, two years on either side of its passage. The share of uninsured residents did fall to 5.4% in 2008 from 9.8% in 2005 (though the authors argue this reduction is overstated).

But Messrs. Yelowitz and Cannon show that most of the new coverage was concentrated among people earning under 300% of the federal poverty level, or about $66,000 for a family of four. Those happen to be the same people who qualify for subsidies in the heavily regulated insurance "connector," the prototype for the "exchanges" that Democrats were contemplating before Mr. Brown so rudely interrupted.

[GOP_Lady]

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[big'ol_freeper]

No thanks. Conservatives don’t do socialism.

[svcw]

GOP Governor Mitt Romney brought about a universal insurance

That alone disqualifies him as a conservative and should disqualify him forever from even being considered as a presidential candidate.

[dajeeps]

I think it’s because Obama and his cohorts are nothing but epic fail, not just health care, but everything.
(This isn’t an all inclusive list)

-Ft. Hood
-Crotch Bomber
-Stimulus
-Olympics
-Awful health care bill that no one was happy with
-Political payoffs
-Trying terrorists in civilian court
-Tax hikes
-Corruption

It looks like bitter clingers don’t just live in the heartland after all.

[Secret Agent Man]

[Vigilanteman]

Scott Brown, like Mitt Romney, both argue that the Massachusetts model work better than the national model. Somehow, I don’t think arguing that the Massachusetts program will take longer to implode than a national program and affect fewer people is of great comfort.

[ejonesie22]

Does this mean you are finally coming around?

[GOP_Lady]

No, it means that I am FAIR.

Scott Brown went to Mr. Romney and asked for assistance with his campaign.

Scott Brown also said that the State of Massachusetts had to do something, because the state was spending an extremely high amount on medical care. IIRC, I believe he said $1 billion. I don’t remember if that was annually or not.

[ejonesie22]

Source?

[Diogenesis]

The evidence is that Romney is not a conservative because of RomneyCARE.

THEN:

The fascist dictator carpetbagger Mitt Romney chortles
as he inflicts a government mandate for socialized medicine(HillaryCARE=ROmneyCARE).

Sen. John Kerry to Don Imus on RomneyCARE=HillaryCARE: "I like this health care bill".

Sen. Hillary Clinton on RomneyCARE=HillaryCARE: "To come up with a bipartisan plan in this polarized environment is commendable."

FLASHFORWARD: TODAY:

PROOF RomneyCARE is a Disaster (and Romney is utterly clueless)

“Health Care Speechwriter for Edwards, Obama & Clinton Now Without Health Insurance”
I'm a critic because what Washington is talking about doing
has made health insurance unaffordable in Massachusetts.

“Small businesses bridle at health insurance hikes (Romneycare strangles Mass. businesses)
some really bad news from Blue Cross-Blue Shield: His company’s health insurance rates are going up 47 percent in January.”

---

“ Rationing medicine has already begun
… government-
run health care has introduced rationing and waiting lists and cost the lives of the people under its provisions.”

---

“DEATH PANELS OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN MASSACHUSETTS”

---

“President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar defended the
possibility of removing organs from terminally ill patients without their permission.”

---

“You can’t reap these savings without limiting patients’ choices in some way," said Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess.”

---

“State plan may place limits on patients’ hospital options( Mass. RomneyCare )”

---

"Romney Visits Nebraska, Talks Health Care [where he defends Romneycare] “

---

"Paying the Health Tax in Massachusetts [Romneycare]
Massachusetts requires every resident to have health insurance, and this
year, without informing us directly, the state had changed the rules in a way that made
our bare-bones policy no longer acceptable. Unless we ponied up for a pricier policy we
neither need nor want—or enrolled in a government-sponsored insurance plan—we
would have to pay $1,000 each year to the state.
How did we become outlaws? “

---

"National Health Preview - The Massachusetts debacle, coming soon to your neighborhood."
It was only a matter of time.
They're trying to manage the huge costs of the subsidized middle-class insurance program that is gradually swallowing the state budget.
The program provides low- or no-cost coverage to about 165,000 residents, or three-fifths of the newly insured, and is budgeted at $880 million for 2010, a 7.3% single-year increase that is likely to be optimistic.
The state's overall costs on health programs have increased by 42% (!) since 2006."

---

A Very Sick Health Plan; Bay State’s ‘Grand Experiment’ Fails [RomneyCare]
"Initiated on Mr. Romney’s gubernatorial watch in 2006, this “experiment” has fallen on hard times, and predictably so. “

---

Health care in Massachusetts: a warning for America [Romney brings Mass. to its knees]
The Bay State's mandatory insurance law is raising costs, limiting access, and lowering care.
Three years ago, Massachusetts adopted a plan requiring all residents to purchase health
insurance, with state subsidies for lower-income residents. But rather than creating a
utopia of high-quality affordable healthcare, the result has been the exact opposite –
skyrocketing costs, worsened access, and lower quality care."

---

"‘Severe’ doc shortage seen hiking wait time
“The shortage is getting more severe”"

---

“Health costs to rise again.( RomneyCare )
The state’s major health insurers plan to raise premiums by about 10 percent next year,
prompting many employers to reduce benefits and shift additional costs to workers.”

---

“Nation’s ill-advised to follow Mass. plan [Health plan a failure]
September 17, 2009 The canary is dead.
Massachusetts, the model for the ObamaCare universal insurance plan, is the canary in
the health care coal mine. Yesterday, its obit appeared on the front page of both The Wall
Street Journal and The Boston Globe-Democrat “

---

"Bay State Insurance Premiums Highest in Country - Boston Globe August 22, 2009
Massachusetts has the most expensive family health insurance premiums in the country,
according to a new analysis that highlights the state’s challenge in trying to rein in medical costs
40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent..."

---

"Massachusetts: the laboratory for ObamaCare“

---

"Massachusetts' Obama-like reforms increase health costs, wait times [RomneyCare]
Premiums are growing 21 to 46 percent faster than the national average"

---

"Mass. Pushes Rationing to Control Universal Healthcare Costs (RomneyCare)
A 10-member Massachusetts state healthcare advisory board unanimously recommended
that the state begin rationing healthcare to keep the state’s marquee universal health care program afloat financially.”

---

"1,000 cancer patients 'refused treatment'"

---

"Massachusetts Universal Healthcare System Breaking Down Already
ERs in Massachusetts have not seen a downturn in visits. On the contrary, it seems that ER visits are actually on the upswing in the Bay State. In fact, in 2007 they were higher than the national average by 20 percent...”

---

"Hospital patients 'left in agony'"

---

"National Health Preview - The Massachusetts debacle, coming soon to your neighborhood.
In Massachusetts's latest crisis,
They're trying to manage the huge costs of the subsidized middle-class insurance program that is gradually swallowing the state budget.
The program provides low- or no-cost coverage to about 165,000 residents, or three-fifths of the newly insured, and is budgeted at $880 million for 2010, a 7.3% single-year increase that is likely to be optimistic.
The state's overall costs on health programs have increased by 42% (!) since 2006
Mr. Romney should have known better before signing on to this not-so-grand experiment, especially since the state's "free market" reforms that he boasts about have proven to be irrelevant when not fictional.
Only 21,000 people have used the "connector" that was supposed to link individuals to private insurers."

---

A Very Sick Health Plan; Bay State’s ‘Grand Experiment’ Fails [RomneyCare]
… fiscal troubles aplenty within Repubican Mitt Romney’s brainchild, Massachusetts’ “grand experiment” in “universal” health care."
"Initiated on Mr. Romney’s gubernatorial watch in 2006, this “experiment” has fallen on hard times, and predictably so.
Even though the Bay State commenced its program with a far smaller percentage of uninsured residents than exists nationwide,
“RomneyCare” is threatening to bankrupt the state.“

---

"Dem Congresswoman Admits Obama Health Care Plan Will Destroy Private Health Insurance Industry"

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"Romney’s mistreatments a sick man, as Gov. Mitt Romney meets a medical marijuana patient"

[Paperdoll]

THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO BLAME BROWN’S AMAZING WIN ON THE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE BILL WOULD SOAR EXPONENTIALLY. FEW ARE AWARE OF ITS MULTITUDE OF COMMUNIST EDICTS CONTAINED IN THIS BILL. TO LEARN THE TRUTH THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW, DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING LINK AND SEND IT TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcBaSP31Be8

[GOP_Lady]

I saw the Scott Brown interview on TV.

I probably saw it on Fox News, because that’s usually what I watch.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a link.

I will see if I can find it, but I make no promises.

But that is what I saw and heard.

[Reagan Man]

Are people paying attention? This is a total disconnect.

Massachusetts already has its own version of socialized medicine in RomneyCare. According to Scott Brown, his fellow Mass residents like their RomneyCare. Brown says, he sees no upside and no benefit to ObamaCare. That is the rationale he’s using in opposing ObamaCare, albeit, only in its current form. What Brown does down the road is anyones guess.

[GOP_Lady]

From Scott Brown’s website:

“Health Care: I believe that all Americans deserve health care coverage, but I am opposed to the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress and will vote against it. It will raise taxes, increase government spending and lower the quality of care, especially for elders on Medicare. I support strengthening the existing private market system with policies that will drive down costs and make it easier for people to purchase affordable insurance. In Massachusetts, I support the 2006 healthcare law that was successful in expanding coverage, but I also recognize that the state must now turn its attention to controlling costs.”

http://www.brownforussenate.com/issues

[goldstategop]

Obamacare would probably break the back of MassCare. Massachusettans already pay a premium for universal health insurance. They'd be asked to pay again for what they already have. No wonder they said yesterday thanks but no thanks.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[GOP_Lady]

You know that I admire the work that WSJ does.

However, I have a feeling that they’re not covering the health care story in MA quite right.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>>In Massachusetts, I support the 2006 healthcare law that was successful in expanding coverage...

This is the key sentence. Brown is basically stating that Mass RomneyCare is better then ObamaCare. Whether people choose to buy health care coverage or not, is none of the governments business and none of Scott Brown's business either.

[GOP_Lady]

Here is Scott Brown being interviewed by my man, Neil Cavuto:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3967537/mass-election-referendum-on-reform