Three years ago yesterday, then-Governor Mitt Romney signed into law the most far reaching state health care reform plan to date. At the time, we warned that the plan, with its individual and employer mandates, new regulatory bureaucracy (the Connector), and middle-class subsidies would result in “a slow but steady spiral downward toward a government-run health care system.” Sadly, three years later, those predictions appear to be coming true.
- While the state has reduced the number of residents without health insurance, some 200,000 people remain uninsured. Moreover, the increase in the number of insured is primarily due to the state’s generous subsidies, not the celebrated individual mandate.
- Health care costs continue to rise much faster than the nationally. Since the program became law, total state health care spending has increased by 23 percent. Insurance premiums have been increasing by 10–12 percent per year, nearly double the national average.
- New regulation and bureaucracy is limiting consumer choice and adding to costs.
- Program costs have skyrocketed. Despite tax increases, the program faces huge deficits in the future. As a result, the state is considering caps on insurance premiums, cuts in reimbursements to providers, and even the possibility of a “global budget” on health care spending.
- A shortage of providers, combined with increased demand, is increasing waiting times to see a physician, especially primary care providers.
With the “Massachusetts model” being frequently cited as a blueprint for state or national health care reform, it is important to recognize that giving the government greater control over our health care system will have grave consequences for taxpayers, providers, and health care consumers. That is the lesson of the Massachusetts model.
