Today’s New York Times ran my response to the Grey Lady’s recent editorial on the Massachusetts health plan:
Your editorial lauds the Massachusetts health care reforms as “off to a good start” and “heartening.” The editorial addresses the reforms’ higher-than-projected costs thus:
“The shortfall occurred mostly because the state underestimated the number of uninsured residents and how fast low-income people would sign up for subsidized coverage. It is a warning to other states to keep projections realistic.”
I’m sorry, but if states can low-ball the cost of reforms to get them enacted, and still get praised by the paper of record, that’s exactly what they’ll do. Some “warning.”