Posted on 10/27/2004 8:30:26 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
We hope voters realize that passage of Proposition 72 would be a large step toward a socialized medicine system and that experiences in other states with similar approaches, though examples are few, have not worked well.
If Prop. 72 passes, employers with 200 or more employees would be required starting in 2006 to provide health insurance to employees and dependents, or pay into a "State Health Purchasing Program." Beginning in 2007, employers with 50 to 199 employees would have to provide insurance to all employees only.
Two states have enacted systems similar to what Prop. 72 would impose.
In 1988, the Massachusetts Healthcare Plan was enacted by state lawmakers and Gov. Michael Dukakis. "Employers with five or more workers were to pay a 'medical security contribution' equal to 12 percent of the first $14,000 in wages for each employee. ... [S]tudies at the time of the bill's passage indicated that the plan would significantly increase employer costs and lead to a loss of as many as 9,000 jobs," according to a 1993 study by the Cato Institute.
However, implementation was delayed because of the recession in the early 1990s, and the plan was repealed as part of an overall medical reform in 1996.
In 1974, Hawaii mandated health care coverage for most employees. "Employees who work 20 hours or more a week for four consecutive weeks must be given coverage with a premium that costs no more than 1.5 percent of their salary," according to a 2003 Associated Press story. The number of those uninsured dropped to 2 percent from 10 percent of employees by the early 1990s.
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We would add that the health care mandate and other regulations, plus high taxes, make Hawaii the state least hospitable to business, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Folks in Hawaii and Massachusetts..
How's it working for you? Thanks.
Hard to believe that any state could be more unhospitable to business than California.
Hawaii has been in a recession for about the last 7 years...
Hawaii has been in a recession for about the last 7 years...
Just mailned my Absentee ballot - NO on 72. And this damn dumb state wonders why business is fleeing in droves.
Plus, how many new tax measures (state and local)? Oh, and 6 billion in bonds for stem cell research.
Montana is looking better and better.
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