Obama's Massachusetts Model

He's had four years to learn and has not...or has he?

The Obama administration and the Democrats on the Hill - in their zeal to get a massive entitlement program passed in the form of Universal Health Care - continue to tell the American people that it's all about saving money and cutting costs. Yet every time they come out with their projected costs, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revises those numbers up.

According to reports, Obama's plans for the nation are modelled on the Massachusetts health care plan. Passed in 2006, the radical overhaul of the state’s health-care system has since experienced an "unexpected" ballooning of costs, forcing the state to raise taxes and cut benefits. In just the first four years of its existence, the cost of the state's insurance program has nearly doubled, expanding by 42%. A Rand Corporation analysis projects that health care spending in the state will double again in the next decade.

“In the absence of policy change, health care spending in Massachusetts is projected to nearly double to $123 billion in 2020, increasing 8 percent faster than the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).”

As Obama continues to assail the insurance industry and pretend to be the "defender of the consumer" - portraying the battle as one against premium increases - the cost of insurance premiums are the nation's highest. According to The Daily Caller:

Meanwhile, the cost of insurance premiums in the state is the highest in the nation, and double-digit rate hikes are expected again in 2010.

The worry, shared across the political spectrum, is that the state’s health-care spending will overwhelm the state’s budget. Already, it has forced service cuts that have irked those on both sides of the aisle.

Is this what we need on a nationwide basis? Are the Democrats oblivious to the problems facing the state of Massachusetts, or are they actively seeking to duplicate that disaster on a grander scale? One must truly wonder. Nevertheless, the road to get there looks eerily similar the road Massachusetts took. Also from The Daily Caller:

One problem the state has faced is that it failed to accurately anticipate the true cost of the program. At the time the program was signed into law, estimates indicated that the cost of Commonwealth Care, which is responsible for the program’s biggest single cost, its health insurance subsidies, would be about $725 million per year. But by 2008, those projections had been revised. New estimates indicated that the plan was to cost $869 million in 2009 and $880 million 2010, an upwards increase of nearly 20 percent.

Perhaps it would be a great idea if - before we get too far down this familiar road and end up in the same place - someone slammed on the brakes. Are you listening, Congress?

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