Pay up or get out: Gov reveals health plan
By Brett Arends/Herald Exclusive
Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - Updated: 04:55 AM EST
Gov. Mitt Romney doesn't just want to make health insurance universal. He wants to make it compulsory.
In an opinion piece published in today's Herald, the possible presidential contender pushes the ball way upfield in the healthcare debate by calling ``for a personal responsibility principle'' in health insurance.
``Everyone must either become insured or maintain an adequate savings account to cover their medical expenses,'' Romney writes.
The argument: that would cut out free-riders who use today's system without paying for it. ``We cannot expect some citizens to pay for others who can afford to pay some or all of their own way,'' he writes.
Romney argues assistance programs he is pushing would make insurance affordable by all.
But the governor's comments are almost certain to stir controversy as a major conference on healthcare begins today.
There are an estimated 532,000 residents in Massachusetts without health insurance, or just under 9 percent of the state's population. That is the fourth-lowest rate in the country.
Response from experts to the headline-grabbing move was decidedly mixed.
``He said what?'' remarked an astonished Michael Cannon, director of healthcare policy at the free-market Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. ``It sounds like he's running for the (liberal) wing of the Democratic Party.''
Cannon called the plan a blow against personal liberty. He rejected the analogy with compulsory third-party auto insurance for drivers because ``people are free to take the bus instead.''
He suggested defining the mandatory insurance package would prove a field day for special interests.
John McDonough, executive director of the pressure group Health Care For All, was more positive, saying the idea could be ``a great step forward.''
But he noted two problems. It would be expensive: those who can't afford health insurance would need help through ``deep subsidies.'' And employers might simply respond by trying to drop company plans, unless prevented from doing so.
Paul Wingle, spokesman for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, argued that the problem of ``free-riders'' extends beyond individuals.
He said that one of the state's biggest underpayers is the commonwealth itself, which picks up little more than 70 percent of its mandated Medicaid bill.
Critics noted the governor would have to solve one other problem too. How would such a law be enforced?"
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