Posted on 07/09/2009 6:05:03 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
Former GOP Governor Helped Make 2006 Reform Reality.
BOSTON -- Three years after the inception of Massachusetts’ landmark health reform legislation, which required every citizen to buy insurance, NewsCenter 5’s Ed Harding wondered what former Gov. Mitt Romney, a key political architect of the plan, thought of its progress. Call it protecting his legacy, well-earned pride, or seeing the glass as half-full, but Romney says Massachusetts deserves an ‘A.’
“It’s working like we had hoped it would work,” the one-time republic presidential candidate said. “We got nearly everybody in Massachusetts health insurance, which really, something people didn't think was possible.”
Romney said the same can be done nationwide, though he concedes what many in the Bay State are grappling with now, that the hardest part of the reform debate is controlling costs. It is projected that within a decade health care will account for 20 percent of all money spent in the United States.
Currently, health care accounts for between 17 and 18 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product.
“It’s huge,” said Romney. “We’ve got two challenges. One is to get everybody insured. Believe it or not that's the relatively easy job. The other job is to reign in the inflation associated with health care. We can do that too but it's a lot of work.”
Romney points to a recent analysis by the pro-reform Massachusetts Taxpayers’ Association, showing that since near-universal coverage was implemented in 2006, state taxpayers have had to shell out an additional $88 million per year to insure an additional 430,000 citizens.
“Some people say. ‘Oh, it's expensive,’ but actually, it cost less than two percent of the state budget.”
Romney is closely following the reform debate in Washington, DC, and pointed to President Barack Obama’s proposal for a government-run so-called public plan option as a “big mistake.”
“The current system with over 1,000 insurers in this country, is perfectly capable adequate to provide choice to people in America,” Romney said.
The former governor declined to answer when Harding asked if health care is a right of a privilege in the United States. He did insist, however, that on a national level politicians ought to be able to create a system where every citizen has health insurance.
[Considering today we have a 2:1 conservative advantage,..]
Yeah, that explains why democrats are winning in all the states.
So, if DC said “forget the courts” and continued to ban guns, you’d be fine with that?
Well, when our choices are RINOs that are liberal-lite, why would you vote for the phony when you can vote for the real socialist?
Does anyone know Mitt’s screen name over on DU?
Or start a new “Sarah Palin QUIT” thread ...
“His opinion sure doesn’t match the opinion of the articles I’ve read on the program.”
He doesn’t LIVE in Mass nor is he covered by RomneyCare ... that’s why he thinks it works. Luckily, I got out of the state before it passed, but a good number of the people I know that still live there say the state is sinking fast, especially after electing Deval Patrick.
Romney aides will trash Palin some more he is just another con artist politician.
Well, not according to a couple of articles I've seen about it (one in the WSJ, I think), that said approximately half of the previously uninsured now have coverage. I haven't seen recent figures on MA current unemployment, but I suspect a lot of people who previously were insured through their employers are now fending for themselves.
I thought you guys had abandoned Free Republic after reading this.
My guess is that the $88 million is the premiums that the uninsured will pay through the government and then Romney SAYS that he is insuring all of them for only $88 million. If the government ever actually collects them.
The ultimate executive authority in DC is the President of the United States. If the President issued an executive order directing the DC government to enforce its gun ban without reference to the federal courts that would, of course, be within the proper scope of his authority. The President decides how the laws are to be executed. It would also be within the proper scope of Congressional authority to impeach him for flouting the Constitution or to pass legislation siding with the courts and nullifying the gun ban. That's how it works.
Romney instituted gay marriage in Massachusetts. He was the Governor. The responsibility was his and there is no way around it. Courts can make any order they want but only executives can actually do stuff. They have to be responsible for the stuff they do if self-government is to mean anything. Stop trying to defend Mr. Hair. He isn't worth the effort.
RINO - he needs to come out and denounce his own plan or be politically disenfranchised from the GOP NOW
Lost my vote!
I live in MA and was laid off in ‘07. My employer had extended my benefits for a few weeks afterwords, then I was told by the state that I “had” to have health insurance and could opt into their plan. The problem was, I was receiving such little $$ from unemployment I could not afford it and they were NOT going to give it to me for free so I chose to go without. MA is a joke of a state and Romney is a tool.
He might as well team up with Colin Powell; they could do a road act. Too bad — I like Romney, but not as a future president anymore.
[If Romney is accurately represented here.]
Mass gov’t run health care is AWFUL. The worst part is, the MA state legislature is 90% Democrats so reforms would never get through. Romney was a pretty good governor, and could potentially beat Obama with the right VP in 2012 - but he needs to stop shooting himself in the foot with comments like this.
Yes, we still have alleged conservatives claiming Willard is a conservative.
My friend who owns a very nice 2 bed condo in Boston and lives there alone gets free health care from Massachusetts because she only works semi part time (her choice) yet she qualifies for free because she does not have enough income. However, she tells me that doctor’s offices will not see her when they hear what health insurance she has. Apparently the state pays late and the doctors do not want to get involved. She had to drive an hour out of the way in order to finally find one doctor who would take the Mass Care insurance.
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