As Mitt Romney courts conservatives in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, the landmark health-care legislation that the former Massachusetts governor signed into law about a year ago has been mostly left out of his pitch. When he does speak about the measure, which many conservatives loathe as a classic example of big government, he comments carefully, even though when he signed it on April 12, 2006, he described the legislation by saying, “an achievement like this comes around once in a generation” This near universal healthcare plan for the state provided 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.”
For now, Romney is keeping his distance from the law, which goes into effect July 1 and has proved a challenge to implement. Massachusetts officials initially sought to require everyone to get insurance, but they have created exemptions, worried they have not yet created plans that are cheap enough for all residents. "Republicans and Democrats came together, and we found a way to get everybody insured in our state," Romney told a crowd in Manchester, N.H.
“We must recognize the importance of the role of the states in leading reform and the need for innovation in dealing with rising health care costs and the problem of the uninsured.” His plan now is to leave the decision of health care in the hands of each individual state, by encouraging states to eliminate the cumbersome insurance regulations that drive costs up and providers out of the market. He also supports instituting tax reforms and encouraging state level reforms.
His plan also includes leveling the playing field by making all health care expenses tax deductible, eliminating the special treatment afforded employer-provided health plans. Using some of the money currently spent on providing expensive "free care" for the uninsured at emergency rooms to instead help the truly needy buy private insurance. "But we say let's rely on personal responsibility. Help people buy their own private insurance. Get our citizens insured, not with a government takeover, not with new taxes needed, but instead with a free market based system that gets all of our citizens in the system. No more free rides." He supports expanding and deregulating the private health insurance market to extend coverage to all. Institute federal caps on non-economic and punitive damage awards to eliminate frivolous lawsuits and bring an end to the practice of defensive medicine. Give states flexibility to spend their Medicaid dollars in whatever way they find most efficient and effective. Improve quality and enhance transparency by introducing the same competitive forces that drive innovation in other sectors of the economy. He supports full deductibility of qualified medical insurance.
The former Massachusetts governor has earned both contentious criticism and tributes for working with Democrats to reform health-care there while governor. His tributes from his own party come in the presentation of his plan, “Conservative principles have the answers for health care. I think I'm going to be able to demonstrate to you today the conservative principles of personal responsibility and free market dynamics and choice and personal care – these kinds of elements allow us to reform health care in such a way that we can solve the problems that America faces in health care without having a government takeover, without having socialized medicine with all its drawbacks and all its weaknesses.” Another merit is that Romney Care gives people cash and lets them choose the coverage that’s right for them. In Massachusetts, it signed up more people faster than SCHIP signed up in a decade. The difference is that private companies competed for consumers instead of government trying to enroll recipients. Criticism can be found in that Romney appears to have traded his big-government ideas in for full tax deductibility of out-of-pocket medical expenses and health premiums. Romney’s tax reforms would not do as much to increase affordability or individual ownership as Rudy Giuliani’s would. Another bad component is that people would be able to deduct all out-of-pocket health costs. In New York City, where the marginal tax rate is 50 percent, you would be able to buy an MRI scan or a stomach staple for fifty cents on the dollar. The incentives would be to spend. By contrast, Health Savings Accounts which Romney also supports, create incentives to save.
Resources:
1. Bacon jr., Perry. "Romney Plays Down Role in Health Law." Friday, April 13, 2007 2/7/08
2. Mitt Romney for President 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2008, from Mitt Romney True Strength for America's future Web site: http://www.mittromney.com/
3. "Dr. Romney Goes National." Aug 27 2007 Feb. 7 2008 .
4. Popescu, Roxana. "Health Care Debate." Aug 24 2007 Feb 7 2008. .
5. Tanner, Michael. "Romney quiet on health care." 01/29/2008. Feb. 7 2008 .
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