"Let me tell you this about our system in Massachusetts: 92 percent of our people were insured before we put our plan in place. Nothing’s changed for them. The system is the same..."
~ Willard Mitt Romney
Actually, quite a bit has changed for the people of Massachusetts since Mitt Romney signed the Massachusetts health care law in 2006 (with Ted Kennedy standing over his shoulder).
Here are the facts:
- RomneyCare killed more than 18,000 jobs in Massachusetts in 2010.
- Romney's health care law reduced personal income for workers and families.
- Under RomneyCare, private health insurance costs have risen by $4.311 billion in Massachusetts.
- Access to primary care physicians is becoming more restricted, as wait times continue to increase.
- Most primary care practices are closed to new patients.
Shortly before his plan became law, Governor Romney claimed that "Every uninsured citizen in Massachusetts will soon have affordable health insurance and the costs of health care will be reduced. And we will need no new taxes, no employer mandate and no government takeover to make this happen." Nothing could be more completely divorced from the truth:
- With RomneyCare in place, state health care expenditures have risen by $414 million.
- The federal government has spent an additional $2.418 billion on Medicaid for Massachusetts.
- Medicare expenditures increased by $1.426 billion.
- Under Romney's health care law, the cumulative increase in the cost of health care has come to $8.569 billion, so far.
- Employers "who employ 11 or more full-time equivalent employees" and do not make a "fair and reasonable contribution" to their employees' health insurance are required to pay a fine.
- Mitt Romney increased taxes the moment he signed RomneyCare.
Here's the best kept secret: Massachusetts isn't paying for it! The state has been able to shift the majority of the costs to the federal government.
More troubling facts:
- More emergency room crowding: Despite reassuring predictions to the contrary, wasteful "low severity" ER visits continue to skyrocket. The total cost of emergency visits has soared by 36%.
- The number of people "gaming" the state’s health insurance system (by purchasing coverage only when they are sick) quadrupled from 2006 to 2008.
- RomneyCare increased single-coverage employer-sponsored insurance premiums by about 6 percent.
- As a direct result of Romney's proudest achievement, low-to-medium earning families often suffer financially when they work harder to earn more money.
The future of RomneyCare:
Why is Mitt Romney so proud of RomneyCare?
x-posted
UPDATE: Linked at American Power. Thanks!
UPDATE II: Linked at The Other McCain! Thank you.
UPDATE: Linked at American Power. Thanks!
UPDATE II: Linked at The Other McCain! Thank you.
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