I don't often reprint articles I've written in the past, time like a moving river and all, but this one just might bear repeating. One year ago yesterday, I posted this:
Romneycare Writ Large
One of the current, and soon to be retired, Congress Critters said in defense of the massive health care takeover:
the bill will improve the public's health and save money by providing care to 32 million uninsured people, many of whom would otherwise seek expensive care in emergency rooms.
Is that a fact? How is that working out for you over in Massachusetts, where a similar plan was launched in 2006, under the leadership of Mitt Romney? Massachusetts now, incidentally, has the highest insurance costs of any state in the nation and its own health care initiative is kept solvent only by massive infusions of cash from the Federal Government.
And they still use the emergency room!
Massachusetts residents are frequent users of emergency department (ED) care, continuing despite significant improvement in access to care as a result of the state's 2006 health care initiative.So much for your savings! Any more blue sky, smoke and mirrors you'd like to sell us?
Massachusetts’ 2006 health reform legislation sought to move the state to near universal health insurance coverage and to improve access to high quality care. The available research evidence shows that the state has achieved near universal health insurance coverage and has made significant gains in access to care. As of fall 2008, nearly all (92%) working-age adults in the state had a usual source of care for when they were sick or needed advice about their health and most (85%) had had at least one doctor visit in the past 12 months. Despite significant gains in access to care under health reform, high levels of emergency department (ED) use have persisted in Massachusetts. Specifically, ED use was high in Massachusetts prior to health reform and has stayed high under health reform.There are no savings from a reduction in ED (or ER) usage, because there will still be illegals, uninsured and under insured, and old habits don't die easily either!
Was high and stayed high. Got it? Apparently not the Congress Critters we sent to Washington. They still don't get it.
And why do I feature Mr. Romney so prominently in this post? He's a good business man. Nice looking. He seems like a good guy. He's clean. He only talks with a Boston dialect when he wants to...
And he seems to be wanting to throw his hat back into the ring in 2012.
No.
Hell, no.
(Insert more emphatic "NO" here )
Mr. Romney: support the strongest candidate we have in 2012, whomever that might be, and get out of the way. Whether you were the primary architect of RomneyCare in Massachusetts or simply made a deal with the devil to let it pass, you let it pass. Hell, you even used to take credit for it!
Well, I'm a strong believer in giving credit where credit is due. And you sir, deserve the credit for the RomneyCare debacle in MA which so closely resembles the debacle that threatens to envelope our entire nation's health care system. The one that has to be rolled back. The one that you unfortunately lack the credentials or the credibility to do so.
Get a job. Get a life. Anywhere but 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!
Oh, and say hello to Donny and Marie for me!
Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.
