Posted on 11/17/2006 8:38:04 AM PST by Austin Willard Wright
Led by Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, supporters promised that health insurance could be provided with only a slight increase in expenditures. Skeptics at the time pointed out that this would not be possible, but were dismissed. snip
The klieg lights are now off and the press has moved on to other stories. It's time to bring heaven to earth and make this thing work. What's the story? Administration officials are now telling Wall Street they expect the plan to be quite expensive. In an Aug. 17 filing to support general obligation bonds, officials project that the new plan will increase Massachusetts government health spending by $276.4 million in 2007. That's a $151 million boost over what the public was told the plan would cost as recently as April. "Somebody once told me: if you want to know what is really going on in state government, look at the bond documents," the writers at HealthyBlog, who are tracking the details of the implementation process, pointed out, when posting the filings. "They can say whatever they want to the public, but they can go to jail for fibbing to Wall Street."
snip The extra money must come from somewhere, and the state's employers will be in the crosshairs. Mr. Romney is on his way out and the new governor, as well as the people he appoints to the new health care bureaucracies, will have not been party to any deal limiting business contributions to $295 a head. Conservative supporters of the plan claimed that the $295 would be the ceiling of a possible payroll tax, but it will more likely prove to be a floor.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Well I would say that this under-estimation definitely makes him presidential material!
Just think, he can do to all of us what he has done to Mass.
Yeah, but the run-away cost of health care is the fault of TRIA LAYWER SCUM, that run Washington!
Fix that first!
As the costs continue to rise, this will be a giant alabtross for him in the debates.
bttt
"Although federal taxpayers are expected to pick up some of this tab, the majority of it will fall on Bay State taxpayers."
Why are federal taxpayers picking up any of the bill? Congress needs to stop this.
"Officials haven't even started designing the private plans -- the plans that non-poor individuals must purchase by July of 2007 or face fines."
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After reading that I would leave the Commie-state too.
Who wants to live in Massechusetts?
The Socialist Peoples Republic of Massechusetts!
THE PEOPLE OF MASSECHUSETTS have the voting mentality of the Venezuela.
They get what they vote for.
Keep up the good work and elect Democrats!
Haven't the Federal Tax payers picked up enough of this Banana Republic's tab?
Now the State can do for Healthcare what it did for Car Insurance.
My, my, my ~ as I recall Indiana, which has one of the most thriving medical care systems in North America, has caps.
So do other states.
I think the problem is that people in Massachusetts are just a bunch of whiners.
This is exactly the same scenario that happened when Republicans were sandbagged by the Bush administration into passing the Medicare Drug Bill. The estimate was a fraction of the true cost, which surfaced only after the bill passed. Government lies to get its way.
socialism always bankrupts
Ping! You may be interested in this.
What? There's no free lunch? Whodever have thunk it?
With Deval Patrick in the governor's office, and Democrats in control of the state legislature, the sky's the limit on taxes in the Bay State, IMO.
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