In a crippling blow to the concept of health care mandates, socialism, and the peoples' right to pay ever-more-exorbitant premiums, officials in Massachusetts announced today that
Massachusetts residents who participate in the state's healthcare program are seeing their insurance premiums going down by 5 percent, officials say...
...those participating in the state's Health Connector Commonwealth Care program are enjoying a second year of reduced premium payments courtesy of the healthcare reform act signed into law by then Gov. Mitt Romney...
Reduced premiums? Why thats, that's... un-American!
There is no way that Governor dog-on-car and Obamacare-is-socialism willingly signed this horrible legislation; legislation that is bringing Massachusetts residents agony little short of a descent into hell itself. Democrats must have captured him and handed him over to space aliens to be tortured. Yeah, that's it. Space alien torture is responsible for Romneycare.
The story continues, but it only gets worse.
Massachusetts has the highest level of healthcare coverage in the country with more than 98 percent of its residents having healthcare insurance...
The combined saving of last year and this year will save the state approximately $91 million with no benefit reductions or member co-pay increases, the report said.
Not only is almost everyone covered and some are paying less for that coverage, but the taxpayers are saving money too. Where will this government intrusion on our rights as Americans end? Next they will be forcing us to pay less money than we want to for broccoli.
What's REALLY going on in the People's Republic of Massachusetts?
According to Lynn Nicholas, president & CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the positive developments are the result of the major stakeholders in the state's medical community working together to accomplish some key goals -- goals that might look familiar to those who are familiar with the objectives of the Affordable Care Act.
... Nicholas points out that Massachusetts is well along the way towards converting the state from a fee-for-service medical framework to one "in which caregivers are organized to provide comprehensive patient care, and are rewarded for providing access, quality and efficiency. In such a system providers not only accept increased responsibility for care, they also accept financial risk that was once the responsibility of insurers."
What Ms. Nicholas is referring to are Accountable Care Organizations, the 'medical home' approach to lowering costs while improving health care outcomes that is at the very core of many reforms found in the Affordable Care Act...
In other words, rampant socialism. Or Kenyan anti-colonialism. Or surrender to our enemies. Or something even more pernicious. It's got to be Obama's fault. After all, the
real latest Mitt Romney would have never allowed such a travesty to happen in his state.
7:12 PM PT: The Massachusetts Health Connector (aka 'Exchange') Home Page
7:18 PM PT: Just to be clear: the fact of the premium reductions is not snark. That part, the 98% coverage, and the lowered costs for MA, are from the cited, non-snark, articles.
7:30 PM PT: Clarity point two: This is not to be interpreted as an endorsement of RomneyCare over a single-payer or similar system. But if you need health insurance / health care, you could do worse than to move to Massachusetts at this point.
Sun Apr 15, 2012 at 9:57 AM PT: Op Ed by Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of both Romneycare and Obamacare, on Romney's flip-flop against his own program.
Sun Apr 15, 2012 at 10:08 AM PT: More on Affordable Care Orgs and commentary by health care players in MA