Here’s Gov. Patrick’s op-ed in today’s WSJ urging America to follow the Massachusetts example and join ObamaCare.
He writes:
Opponents of reform claim that the Massachusetts experiment is too costly. They are wrong. State estimates and independent analysis from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation concur that health-care reform has only added moderate incremental costs to the state budget. As more of our residents have become insured, there has been a decrease in demand for costly emergency-room care. Even in the midst of the current economic downturn, our state budget was balanced.
Uh-huh.
That “moderate incremental cost,” according to the same Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation–and quoted in the same WSJ yesterday– works out like this:
In Massachusetts, rising health-care costs, already among the highest in the country, threaten the insurance mandate’s long-term viability. The state’s costs to expand coverage have swelled nearly 70% to an expected $1.75 billion in fiscal 2010 from a base of $1.04 billion in 2006, about half of which is supported by federal funds, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonprofit policy research group.
Gov. Patrick also overlooks the front-page story from yesterday’s Boston Globe-Democrat, reporting that premiums are surging, and will jump 8-12% this year–twice the national average.
As for our state’s budget being balanced, yes it is. It’s required by law. How did Gov. Patrick and the 90% Democrat legislature balance it? By raising taxes $1 billion, including a 25% increase in the sales tax.
And Gov. Patrick can’t wait for the rest of America to join us!