Posted on 07/28/2009 6:45:45 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Oddly enough, as the nation considers ObamaCare, the press is completely uninterested in the experience of Massachusetts and Hawaii, both of which have ambitious, and failed, experiments in trying to provide universal health care. Mitt Romney, the architect of the Bay State's health care plan, which is costing far more than expected, is largely absent from the airwaves, despite his legitimate claim to be an expert. The Boston Globe calls the plan a "failure" and notes "The state's plan flunks on all counts."
Spending for the Commonwealth Care subsidized program has doubled, from $630 million in 2007 to an estimated $1.3 billion for 2009, which is not sustainable.
As for Hawaii, the President's home state, Steve Gilbert of Sweetness & Light highlights the great hopes for Hawaii as a "model" (according to the New York Times) for the nation. He cites several articles over the years, which make illuminating background for considering ObamaCare. As usual, he highlights the relevant texts. View all of them here.
In Hawaii, as in Mass, once again, universal care has not been achieved, but costs have ballooned. Steve cites (and highlights) the following from the Honolulu Advertiser less than a month ago:
A law enacted in Hawai'i in 1974 that requires employers to provide health insurance for employees working at least 20 hours a week is being cited by researchers who are skeptical of similar mandates being suggested in the argument for universal health care.
The result of Hawai'i's Prepaid Health Care Act has been that businesses have relied more on employees who work fewer than 20 hours a week and thus aren't covered under the requirement, wrote San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank research adviser Rob Valletta and co-authors Tom Buchmueller and John DiNardo, both University of Michigan professors.
The results of the research into health insurance coverage in Hawai'i "imply that an employer mandate is not an effective means for achieving universal coverage," they wrote.
"Although overall insurance coverage rates are unusually high in Hawai'i, a substantial number of people remain uninsured, suggesting a need for alternative approaches if universal coverage is the ultimate goal," they said...
Isn't it time that everyone agrees that ill-considered plans turn out to be disasters when it comes to achieving universal health care? Federalism really is the laboratory of democracy, and the lab results are in. The president and his lapdog media need to be honest about what we have already learned.
you can hear the crickets when any news which doesn’t swoon over the obamanation hits the msm... weasels!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Not to mention the Veteran Administration Hospitals and Medicare...
Didn’t Tennessee also enact a universal health care plan that failed?
Well, let's not forget TennCare, KentuckyCare and best of all Dirigo...Maine's wonderful deathcare experiment.
The state legislature later tried to introduce an income tax to fund the damn thing. Massive public mobilization manage to stop that ploy.
bump
That the media is not "interested" in highlighting the costs and the failures of states' "universal" health care payment systems, is not at all surprising.
What is baffling, why aren't Republicans mention MassCare and TennCare every time ObamaCare comes up, along with asking why does federal government should come up with 'one size fits all' system where it would be so much better if states could compete by creating - or not creating - their own system, uniquely fit for the state. In other words, put it in terms of "let's see why states go bankrupt due to the costs of universal medical insurance before we bankrupt entire nation..."
Of course, any answer to that question will be an indictment of existing or proposed "solutions"... quad erat demonstrandum!
When people hear about problems with "free" health care systems in Canada or Britain, they think that the problems are minor or that they are not because of the system but due to some bureaucracy or individuals. People also don't realize what the real cost is (both financial and rationing of care) as it's only described and compared in terms of percentage of GDP.
Republicans can make it very difficult for media to ignore the issue, and educate the public - or at least get them curious - at the same time. Bringing the issue back home, to the states' level, will drive down whatever support is there, except from people who are invested in "universal" care for reasons that are other than benevolent, i.e. their ideology or personal benefit.
Unlike Maine, it sounds like the voters in TN have their heads screwed on right.
So did they throw the bastards out?
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