Romneycare a Runaway "Success"

Well...not exactly.

Another stunning development just in from the "Nothing Could Shock Me Less" News Department.

First, a look back to April 2006:

Governor Mitt Romney signed most of a sweeping new healthcare bill into law yesterday at a festive Faneuil Hall ceremony hailed as a hallmark of bipartisan achievement, even as healthcare specialists expressed concern that the plan could start losing money in three years.

[...]

A number of economists and health policy specialists interviewed by the Globe said that the plan's financing is solid for the next two years, especially since lawmakers have added a cushion of money in case of unexpected costs.

But some specialists warned that the picture is less certain after that. "There are a lot of things that have to happen right for there to be enough money," said John Holahan of the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization in Washington, D.C.

As I wrote in response:

Yeah, and one of those things is for the population of people paying into the system to keep up with the population of people taking out of the system. I'm not seeing that happening down the road.

Well, hey, guess what?

Boston Globe - November 2007:

Success could put health plan in the red

Enrollment in the state's new subsidized health plan is growing so quickly that the state could face a funding gap as large as $147 million by the end of the fiscal year, according to a state projection.

To understand how that can be classified as a success, you're probably gonna need your Mumbonics to English Dictionary. I don't want to know what would have to transpire for Flutiecare to be deemed a failure.

Welcome to Massachusetts.

Now bend over.

Flutiecare Back In the News

As if I needed additional confirmation that I made the right decision by moving my family out of Massachusetts...

Boston Globe - January 20, 2007:

A state panel yesterday outlined for the first time the minimum requirements for coverage under the state's new health insurance law, a package estimated to cost $380 a month on average for an individual, more than $100 above recent estimates.

I am shocked!

Boston Globe - January 27, 2007:

Employees of the new state agency established to provide health insurance to the state's low-income residents have been hired at an average salary of $111,000 a year, with 12 of the 22 staff members making more than $100,000 and six earning more than Governor Deval Patrick and his Cabinet secretaries.

It's for the children.

Boston Globe - January 30, 2007:

More than 200,000 people with health insurance would have to buy additional coverage to meet proposed minimum standards under the state's new health insurance law, according to a count completed by insurers yesterday.

Most of the individuals do not have coverage for prescription drugs or have drug coverage that is more restrictive than the minimum proposed by the state board implementing the law. The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector board is scheduled to vote on the standards in March. Individuals would face a fine of about $200 next year and more in future years, if they do not have insurance that meets the standards.

Let's see...

200,000 people getting whacked for $200 each. Punishment, if you will, for not having "enough health insurance", as defined by their benevolent state government. That's $40 million, in the first year alone, that the legislature can use to lure more illegal aliens into Massachusetts, as part of their current "Save Our Political Clout in Congress By Any Means Necessary" Campaign.

What's not to love?

And, this will have you trembling with shockedness...

The number of residents whose insurance would not meet the minimum standards is more than four times the estimate made by the board's staff earlier this month before the board altered the proposed standards. And the new number includes only those covered by the five largest Massachusetts insurers. It does not include tens of thousands more who have policies that set dollar limits on coverage, policies that the board also said were inadequate.

Of course the board will say those policies are inadequate. The fewer individuals they find with "inadequate" coverage, the less money gets thrown into the pot to help finance their six-figure salaries and keep the Illegal Alien Influx Incentive Fund well-funded.

I would have much more to write on this topic, were I still a resident of Massachusetts and funding this horrendous, steaming pile of horseshit with my tax dollars. Instead, I thnk I'll sit back on my couch, drink my Smuttynose Winter Ale - purchased in a (gasp!) supermarket, on (AAAGH!) Sunday - and cut and paste something I wrote last April.

As Luke Skywalker Once Said...

"I have a very bad feeling about this."

OK, last post (maybe) on the healthcare bill (which I still think sucks ass, btw) before I move on to more important matters.

Let me see if I've got this straight:

1. The total cost of this plan to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth is yet unknown.

2. The cost of individual coverage plans is yet unknown, but likely higher than original estimates had shown.

3. The level of coverage provided by these plans of unknown cost is, well, unknown.

4. The extent to which healthcare coverage for lower-income families and individuals will be subsidized by the taxpayers is ... (any guesses?) ... yep, unknown.

5. Participation in this plan of unknown costs and capabilities, for those who could afford it, but would otherwise choose not to, is mandatory. And, enforcement thereof shall be coordinated with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

Yep...here come those warm-n-fuzzy feelings again.

Have I mentioned "SUCKERS!" lately?

Quotes of the Day

Did I say no more posts on this subject? OK, I lied.

"This is cutting-edge conceptual healthcare policy," said Democratic state Representative Harriett L. Stanley of West Newbury, a member of the legislative healthcare financing committee who voted for the measure. "But we don't yet know what it's really going to cost us or where we're going to get the money from. To some extent you might call it a Hail Mary pass."

Great...Flutiecare! Just what we need.

After a State House rally to celebrate passage of the legislation, John McDonough, a former state legislator who heads the advocacy group HealthCare For All, declared this package "good enough for now."

But, he, too, acknowledged, "There are questions about the financial stability. The financing is plausible, but it could go awry."

It COULD go awry? Well, that's awfully fucking reassuring!

As Judith Meredith, another healthcare advocate who celebrated passage of the legislation, said: "The funding part worries us all."

Not all that much, apparently.

If this is how the SUPPORTERS of this bill feel, we're far more screwed than I thought.

And, here's an interesting choice of phrasing.

The cost of extending health insurance coverage to an additional 515,000 people will be shared by business, individuals, and the government.

Oh, goody! The "government" will be pitching in as well! Why does this scene from The Blues Brothers spring to mind?

Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here?
Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country *and* western.

This healthcare plan is the epitome of "fairness" - it's being funded by the taxpayers *and* the government!

God save the Commonwealth.

And, major league kudos to Globe columnist Joan Vennochi for writing this piece.