The Romney Plan
Mitt Romney gave his presidential aspirations a big boost with the passage of a health care plan that would require every resident of Massachusetts to have health insurance, just as every driver is required to have car insurance.
Sally Pipes hates it. But Ed Haislmaier of the Heritage Foundation, which advised Romney on the plan, asserts that it should thrill those "who want to create a consumer-based health system and deregulate health insurance."
More from a substantive point of view will become clear as the substance of the bill is discussed and debated over time. But from a political or strategic standpoing, it's clearly a home run.
Sally Pipes hates it. But Ed Haislmaier of the Heritage Foundation, which advised Romney on the plan, asserts that it should thrill those "who want to create a consumer-based health system and deregulate health insurance."
More from a substantive point of view will become clear as the substance of the bill is discussed and debated over time. But from a political or strategic standpoing, it's clearly a home run.
posted by LadybugUSA at 9:40 AM
4 Comments:
Carol --
If I don't want to have auto insurance in a state that requires it, I can choose not to have a car. (Especially so in Boston, where normal-life-sans-car is actually not that hard.)
We can't choose to not have health. So this plan is just a forced tax by another name.
Moreover, the more people that have health insurance, the longer the lines and waiting lists get. This would actually imperil the lives of some who would survive under today's voluntary system.
Honestly, I'm not impressed with Romney at all.
Auto insurance is mandatory in most states, but some people buy it, get their license renewed, then cancel the insurance and drive with none. Until they have to renew their license again or have an accident, no one is the wiser. What is to prevent similar shenanigans with mandated health insurance? I'm betting those who obey the law will still pay through the nose to cover the uninsured, just as now. "Uninsured motorists" coverage may morph into "uninsured emergency" coverage that law abiding people have to buy to cover hospital and physician's charges for the uninsured. By law, ERs can't turn away those seeking care.
Lots of questions need answers.
Here are two questions I'll address right now.
Q: Where the heck are these high costs of health care coming from in the first place?
A: Trial lawyers. No other way to put it. The lack of cap on damages and awards drives insurance money up, which drives everything up and creates these costs that have to be recouped somehow.
If you are in doubt and own a pet, compare the vet's bill to your own hospital bill for very similar procedures. A stomach ailment's treatment may be biologically similar between dog and human, but they are financially different by a few orders of magnitude.
Q. How would Romney's plan help this?
A. It wouldn't. Bach rightly says that the law-abiding would subsidize the non-law-abiding. This cost is in addition to the "tort surcharge" realized thru the insurance.
Carol-
I'm wary as a Boston resident. How did it pass so well through the uber-liberal legislature if it was really Romney pushing it? Those guys would do anything to spite him. I linked your thoughts on my post as well. best
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