Government health care sounds better all the time
Posted by BrianMitt Romney’s government mandated health care insurance program is already turning into a disaster (subscription required).
When then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, introduced a universal health-insurance plan in the Bay State early last year, it was widely acclaimed. But less than a year after passage, RomneyCare is in the intensive care unit, soon to be wheeled into hospice.
The first signs of trouble appeared last August. In a filing to support general obligation bonds, officials projected that the new plan would increase state government health-care spending by $276.4 million in 2007. That’s $151 million more than what the public had been told the plan would cost. Meanwhile, the state’s new bureaucracy, busily signing up people for free care, has run into trouble finding affordable plans for those who have to pay. The premiums for subsidized plans would consume up to 6% of a person’s income — prompting calls from activists and echoes from politicians that they should be exempted from the individual mandate. So much for universal coverage.
Reality fully hit in late January of this year, when private insurers submitted bids to the bureaucracy that would administer the new program. The average premium for the unsubsidized plans was not $200 per month — as Mr. Romney promised from the stump — but rather $380. That’s more than 15% of the target audiences’ income — and for a plan with a $2,000 deductible and a total cost sharing of $5,000. People were stunned, outraged. Naturally, “greedy” private insurers were blamed. Politicians called for price controls.
Price controls. Sounds like a great plan.
The article didn’t quite hammer home the cost increase for 2007 enough. While Wall Street Journal readers can be expected to be math savvy, the math challenged masses need to be bludgeoned over the head. The original 2007 cost estimate was $125 million. It new projection is $276 million - more than double what the public was told. Keep that in mind next time you hear a politician touting a “universal” (i.e. government) health care plan.
Kudos to Rob.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
[...] has become in the last year - and it looked bad then. Taxpayers were originally told that the cost for 2007 would be $125 million. By early 2007 the projected cost had more than doubled. This year the cost is going to be well [...]