The Heritage Foundation: "In reality, those who want to create a consumer-based health system and deregulate health insurance should view Romney's plan as one of the most promising strategies out there." (Edmund F. Haislmaier, "Mitt's Fit," The Heritage Foundation, 1/28/2007)
The Club For Growth: "Governor Romney Deserves Credit For Proposing A Plan That Encourages Individually-Owned Health Insurance..." "Given these limitations, Governor Romney deserves credit for proposing (and to a lesser extent, enacting) a plan that encourages individually-owned health insurance and circumvents some of the inequities carved into the federal tax code." (The Club For Growth, "Mitt Romney's Record On Economic Issues," Press Release, 8/21/2007)
Massachusetts Citizens For Limited Taxation: "Romney's plan also got a thumbs up from an unlikely source yesterday – Barbara Anderson, head of Citizens for Limited Taxation, a group that often looks with deep suspicion on government mandates and programs. … The tax activist said that Romney is proposing universal insurance, not universal health care – which Anderson said society effectively already has, as almost no one is denied care even if they can't pay for it. 'Let's just face that reality and deal with it,' Anderson said, adding that covering more people will reduce costs to taxpayers." (Jay Fitzgerald, "Romney Wins Health-Y Reviews," Boston Herald, 6/23/2005)
Conservative Ethan Allen Institute: "John McClaughry of the Ethan Allen Institute spoke about personal responsibility in health insurance. He praised the Massachusetts plan because it deals with the uninsured by sending them out into the market, thus reinforcing personal responsibility. Each individual has to decide his own risk level and can purchase insurance to meet his own needs." ("The Massachusetts Health Plan: A Model For The States?," AEI Newsletter, 2/01/2007)
Investor's Business Daily: "Health Care: Massachusetts lawmakers have passed a universal-coverage bill. Republican Gov. Mitt Romney plans to sign it. Has Romney flipped? Not at all. He has won a victory for market-based reform." (Editorial, "Blue-State Surprise," Investor's Business Daily, 4/06/2006)
Wall Street Journal editorial,Wednesday, April 12, 2006
“On the other hand, his law is far from the market-based approach the Governor claimed in an op-ed on this page yesterday. The core flaw is that the plan forces individuals to buy health insurance, and penalizes businesses that don’t provide it, before deregulating the market for private health insurance. So the state is forcing people to buy insurance many will need subsidies to afford, which is a recipe for higher taxes and more government intervention down the road. Could this be why Mrs. Clinton, Ted Kennedy and the Families USA government medicine lobby are all praising it to the skies? Just asking.”
Encourages? That's an interesting euphemism for socialist mandate backed by fines.