Thanks for that....BUT,
KLP: I read this as people of MA have a choice of insurance, but are required to have some form of health insurance, even those who are poor and had no insurance. I don’t see that Government insurance is the ONLY choice the people have….they can chose their medical insurance, even those who are on limited income and require some subsidy to help them buy their insurance.
--the people on Medicaid or had low income didn’t have any health insurance before. but they had access to free care without paying for insurance.
--The Feds were going to cut Medicaid funding if MA didn’t reduce the number of uninsured recipients of health care.
--Sternberg ( Staples founder) said it would be the best way to help people
--SO………..
Romney decided that because people without insurance still received expensive health care, the money spent by the state for such care could be better used to subsidize insurance for the poor.
--Romney, After positing that any measure adopted not raise taxes and not resemble the previous decade's failed "Hillarycare" proposal, Romney formed a team of consultants from different political backgrounds that beginning in late 2004 came up with a set of innovative proposals more ambitious than an incremental one from the Massachusetts Senate and more acceptable to him than one from the Massachusetts House of Representatives that incorporated a new payroll tax.
In particular, Romney pushed for incorporating an individual mandate at the state level.
"There really wasn't Republican or Democrat in this. People ask me if this is conservative or liberal, and my answer is yes. It's liberal in the sense that we're getting our citizens health insurance. It's conservative in that we're not getting a government takeover."
On April 12, 2006, Romney signed the resulting Massachusetts health reform law, which requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or face escalating tax penalties such as the loss of their personal income tax exemption.
Means tested…..GOOD IDEA!
The bill also establishes means-tested state subsidies for people who do not have adequate employer insurance and who make below an income threshold, by using funds previously designated to compensate for the health costs of the uninsured
He vetoed eight sections of the health care legislation, including a controversial $295-per-employee assessment on businesses that do not offer health insurance and provisions guaranteeing dental benefits to Medicaid recipients.
The legislature overrode all eight vetoes, but the governor's office said the differences were not essential
KLP Note: It doesn't appear that Romney was in favor of raising taxes to do this job (Obama is) and the poor could chose what insurance they wanted to have....Didn't Romney use the Fed allocated funds that would have gone to Medicaid payments for the poor but now with this plan, the premiums for insurance were paid by the funds that did go to Medicaid....
I think Obama's plan is to have ordinary taxpayers pay for everyone who doesn't want to buy insurance. Did I miss something? |
