Health Care Talk (HCTalk.com)

[Denver Dave]

The Failure of RomneyCare
The former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, a Republican, enacted something very similar to the Obama health plan. It isn't working well.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703625304575115691871093652.html


Mr. Romney claimed earlier this month on "Fox News Sunday" that the Massachusetts health reform plan he signed into law in 2006 is "the ultimate conservative plan." But there are many similarities between it and the ObamaCare loathed by conservative voters.

Both have an individual mandate requiring most residents to have health insurance or pay a penalty. Most businesses are required to participate or pay a fine. Both rely on government-designed purchasing exchanges that also provide a platform to control private health insurance. Many of the uninsured are covered through Medicaid expansion and others receive subsidies for highly-prescriptive policies. And the apparatus requires a plethora of new government boards and agencies.