Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mass. Law Requiring Health Insurance Praised in Print
FreeMarketProject.org ^ | April 5, 2006 | Ken Shepherd

Posted on 04/05/2006 2:12:41 PM PDT by freemarket_kenshepherd

Imagine being fined by your state government for not buying something you choose to avoid purchasing. It may sound crazy, but in Massachusetts it may soon be the law.

A bill awaiting Republican Gov. Mitt Romney’s signature could slap heavy fines on people who choose to not buy health insurance. But rather than focus on the privacy invasion and government expansion the new law would engender, the nation’s leading newspapers portrayed the legislation as a bipartisan stroke of genius and even a bow to conservative values.

“Massachusetts is the first state in America to reach full adulthood … The rest of America is still in adolescence,” Princeton economic professor Uwe Reinhardt raved in an April 5 Washington Post article.

The New York Times’s Pam Belluck presented the legislation as a solution providing near-universal health coverage “in a way that experts say combines methods and proposals from across the political spectrum.”

(Excerpt) Read more at freemarketproject.org ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: belongsinbloggers; healthinsurance; massachusetts; mittromney; socializedmedicine; wrongforum
See more here: http://www.freemarketproject.org/news/2006/news20060405b.asp
1 posted on 04/05/2006 2:12:43 PM PDT by freemarket_kenshepherd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: freemarket_kenshepherd
If they took out the employer mandate and penalties for not purchasing it would be an o.k. law. Though I do have to agree with newt in his book that those who do not buy insurance for libertarian reasons should have to post a bond or provide proof of adequate savings to cover an unexpected illness so that they don't stiff the tax payers by picking up there hospital bill.
2 posted on 04/05/2006 2:18:42 PM PDT by spikeytx86 (Beware the Democratic party has been over run by CRAB PEOPLE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: freemarket_kenshepherd

I heard a story about Governor Romney. One day, he was sitting in his office with his window open when a stiff breeze blew a leaf through the window. It landed on his desk. He immediately grabbed his pen and signed it.


3 posted on 04/05/2006 2:19:17 PM PDT by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: freemarket_kenshepherd

The government should NOT have the power to force individuals to do business with certain private companies. I can understand car insurace since driving is a priviledge but mandatory health isurance? Sounds like someone got bought out by the insurance companies.


4 posted on 04/05/2006 2:21:49 PM PDT by L98Fiero (I'm worth a million in prizes.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: freemarket_kenshepherd
Incredibly stupid move on the part of the state, and a guarantee for increases in the cost of health care. I can negotiate my price with a doctor; I can't with an insurance company. Without free market pressures, prices always rise. There's no competition.

And if you handed every employee the amount of money that the companies are forced to spend, I'm sure they could figure out what to do with it.
5 posted on 04/05/2006 2:28:27 PM PDT by kingu (Liberalism: The art of sticking your fingers in your ears and going NANANANA..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: L98Fiero

Collision insurance makes sense because it isn't really for you; it's for anyone you happen to hit. Mandating Uninsured Motorist would be unforgivably paternalistic. Not that carrying tons of UI is a bad idea, mind you.


6 posted on 04/05/2006 2:33:51 PM PDT by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: freemarket_kenshepherd
Those of us living in Tennessee have a subvarient of this called TennCare. It has been a severe money sink. People moved to Tennessee to be on the insurance, commercial carriers denied coverage to people with higher risks with impunity, and Physician behavior raised cost by unlimited prescribing and excessive use of procedures. I do not recommend interfering with the free market system. In addition, generally the use of "insurance" as an intermediary payer, has increased the cost of rendering care precipitously, greatly increasing the personnel cost of doctor's offices, drug stores, and hospitals. The only winners have been the proliferation of insurance carriers.

It may sound radical, but the system would be much better off returning to a cash business, with charity care being properly called what it is.
7 posted on 04/05/2006 2:34:13 PM PDT by HangnJudge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gordongekko909
I heard a story about Governor Romney.

Mitt, or George?

8 posted on 04/05/2006 2:58:13 PM PDT by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† | Libs: Celebrate MY diversity! | Iran Azadi 2006)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: sionnsar

The one that this article is about.


9 posted on 04/05/2006 3:01:22 PM PDT by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson