Elections Blog

I’m a few days late with this story, but I just found it yesterday.  Here’s the latest socialized medicine success!

Hospitals across the country are imposing minimum waiting times - delaying the treatment of thousands of patients.

A…

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http://mfile.akamai.com/9682/wmv/www.mass.gov/Agov2/streaming/10.2.06.WMR.com.care.LAN.wmv I’m afraid these videos will go away when Romney is no longer Governor, so I wanted to let people watch them.

Click the title to watch the video.

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http://mfile.akamai.com/9682/wmv/www.mass.gov/Agov2/streaming/10.2.06.WMR.com.care.LAN.wmv I’m afraid these videos will go away when Romney is no longer Governor, so I wanted to let people watch them.

Click the title to watch the video.

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http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=5&issue=20061027 Here’s a story from Investors Business Daily on Romney’s health care plan.

BY SEAN HIGGINS

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 10/27/2006

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is widely considered a top contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

A key weapon in that bid will be his state’s universal health insurance law.

Other politicians have tried to get a handle on the nation’s estimated 45 million uninsured — and been humbled in the process. Romney expects to buck the odds.

He has presented his state’s law — which requires all residents to obtain insurance by July 1, 2007 — as proof that he grasps the issue and can produce a result through both political parties.

“One of the things that I was most pleased with . . . is that everybody came together on this — the legislature, the (congressional) delegation here in Washington (and) the Heritage Foundation,” Romney said at a forum last month hosted by National Journal magazine.

Still, Romney has been careful to say he is not promoting the Massachusetts health insurance law as a national model. While he has suggested other states could copy it, those states would have to adapt it first to fit their needs.

“Other states can improve on what we’ve come up with. . . . Perhaps (they will) come up with something better,” Romney said. “Would I adopt this at a national level? No. Let’s experiment with different ideas.”

The stance is a canny political move by Romney, policy analysts say. It lets the governor boast credentials as a trailblazer on insurance and health issues without actually tying him to any particular plan.

“It’s an appeal to the center. It’s ‘I can do bipartisanship. I can reach cross the aisle,’ ” said Michael Tanner, health policy expert at the free-market Cato Institute. “He’s trying to be the new McCain.”

Solving the problem of the uninsured may be a popular issue. A September Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that by a 56%-40% ratio, people prefer universal coverage to the current system.

Of that, 35% said they would back it even if it meant higher taxes or premiums.

The Massachusetts law requires all state residents to be insured by July or face fines of $1,000 a year. The state will subsidize coverage for low-income people, fully subsidizing those who fall below the poverty line.

Companies will be fined $295 per employee if they do not contribute toward their employees’ insurance premiums.

Insurance will be made available via connector — a state-chartered private entity acting as a policy clearinghouse. Residents will pick among private policies and pay with pretax dollars. Any company with 50 or fewer employees could choose the connector as its group plan.

Romney argues that the plan saves money by reducing emergency room costs and related health care expenditures that drain state coffers. He says that while the state program will regulate the policies available through the connector, it is still a free market solution because it allows competition among coverage plans.

The plan was developed with the help of the conservative Heritage Foundation and was endorsed by Massachusetts’ senior senator, Ted Kennedy.

“It’s very promising and I’m optimistic regarding it,” said Ron Pollack, president of the nonprofit Families USA, which promotes expanded health care.

The way Pollack sees the plan, it spotlights health insurance, forcing other candidates to follow Romney’s lead and address the issue.

Business groups have been reserved, but have offered little criticism. A spokeswoman for the Chamber of Commerce says it’s taking a wait-and-see approach.

Bill Vernon, director of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, has a similar reaction, noting state firms are still preparing for it.

That may be the biggest stumbling block for Romney. Many of the details of the law remain to be worked out.

“The telling thing will be when they roll out . . . what type of plans are available through the connector,” Vernon said. “The plans must be affordable for this to work.”

The Massachusetts-based nonprofit Healthcare For All, which promoted the law, blasted a recent Romney proposal, claiming it set the minimum standards for those plans too low.

Should the law’s rollout be regarded as a mess, Romney may be forced to answer for it on the campaign trail.

Then again, that may not hurt him much, since his term as governor ends in January.

“Romney will be out of office by (2008),” said Cato’s Tanner. “He’ll say (his successor) screwed it up.”

Ann Marie

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http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4550616 Continuing the fight to elect Republican governors, Gov. Romney was in Colorado yesterday.

“What they don’t always expect is that Republican governors … understand and can make a difference for things like our schools and improving our quality of life through better health care,” Romney said.

~~~Thomas

Addendum

I think that these quotes from the piece deserved some “airtime” too, so I’m quoting them below.

“This is a big player, big dog. And more than just a pretty face - like another one I guess was in town yesterday - he can actually point to a record of accomplishment,” said Beauprez, referring to Tuesday’s visit of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who has said he also is considering running for president.

Mary Pat Link, a Republican businesswoman, said she sees similarities between Beauprez and Romney.

“I was impressed with the common-sense process he brought to government. Hearing him now, he’s very sharp, very poised, and that’s why I like Bob too,” she said.

Thanks Thomas for posting this!

Ann Marie

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http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061011/dew011.html?.v=71 Looks like Governor Romney is really stepping up his Michigan appearances. Here’s another one scheduled for November 9th, 2006.

DETROIT, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will discuss his state’s landmark approach to the health-care crisis and how a similar plan might work in Michigan at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s 2006 Small Business Conference on Nov. 9 at the Ford Conference & Event Center in Dearborn.

Ann Marie

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/09/29/state_health_plan_costs_within_estimates/ In an age when you can mentally double any program’s projected cost, it’s nice when things go according to plan:

Governor Mitt Romney’s administration had estimated that premiums would be about $300 a month, while legislative staff members had predicted they would average $325.

Health and Human Services Secretary Timothy Murphy said yesterday the premiums are close enough to the administration’s predictions that he believes the program will have adequate funding, especially given that the number of uninsured residents has dropped since the initial calculations were made.

Of course it helps when the program is well-designed.

~~~Thomas

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http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15468489.htm Gov. Romney gave Ohio governor candidate Ken Blackwell’s proposed Buckeye Health Plan a helping hand yesterday in a telephone conference. Blackwell’s plan is similar to the one Gov. Romney passed earlier this year.

Sadly the local GOP has turned the state rather toxic for Republicans so Blackwell is a long shot. Too bad, I suspect he could be a fine governor. He deserves any help he can get.

~~~Thomas

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http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=9909F703-3052-4643-B0D01B92C9FAC2B0&dbtranslator=local.cfm Romney’s recent stint in Western Iowa supporting local candidates Thursday and Friday provided an opportunity for him to address the largest fiscal problem facing our nation–excessive “entitlement programs” . . . including the two burdensome behemoths, Medicare and Social Security.

From Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson (emphasis mine):

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2008, says it’s time to reform the two major “entitlement” programs in America: Social Security and Medicare, government-paid health care insurance for the elderly. “It’s really not possible for us to remain an economic and military super power without rethinking and restructuring our entitlements programs,” Romney says.

After getting re-elected in 2004, President Bush proposed revamping the Social Security system but has abandoned his plan in the face of stiff opposition. Romney, as the governor of Massachusetts, signed legislation this spring that ensures nearly every citizen in his state is covered with health insurance. Premiums are based on income, low income residents are given subsidies to purchase insurance and companies that do not provide health care insurance for their workers pay a premium, too. Romney says the move will eventually reduce the amount of charity health care in Massachusetts because the very poor won’t wait ’til they’re very sick and need very expensive health services.

Romney suggests it’s time to tackle the nation’s health care system for the elderly, too. “Medicare is the largest challenge. Social Security is up there,” Romney says. “Today entitlements represent, plus interest, about 60 percent of federal spending. It grows to 70 percent over the next decade as the result of the Baby Boomers flowing into the system.”

Romney says leaders from both political parties will have to quit “filibustering” in public and come up with a solution in private. “Sitting down, quietly, behind closed doors and having a full and complete discussion of various ways to bring the costs down and to keep it from getting out of control,” Romney says. “In my state the way we were able to do that was on Medicaid, for instance, we sat down and completely re-did our Medicaid program and put in place a new health care system that got everybody in the system and everybody paying their fair share. Those kinds of changes can occur at the federal level and there’s going to be a wide array of options that will be considered.”

Romney says “statesmen” from both political parties should sit down and “say honestly: ‘What can we do?’” to fix Social Security. Romney says the solution should “make sure that we honor the expections” of those who are already getting Social Security and those who are about to get regular Social Security checks from the government, while at the same time ensuring the system will be solvent when the 30- and 40-year-olds of today reach retirement age.

Romney says the political reality is that changes won’t happen until both political parties agree there’s a problem. “We need to finally take action in this country on entitlements, on spending too much money generally, on using too much oil, on winning against the jihadists,” Romney says. “There are a number of challenges that we face and we’ve got to take some pretty bold action.”

Bold words from a bold man.

Jeff (Crossposted at Iowans for Romney

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/14295117p-15141160c.html Though they misinterpret the Massachusetts law a bit, the Sacramento Bee today used the Bay State and Governor Romney as an example of crossing the partisan divide to achieve landmark legislation. Reforming something as big and as broken as the health care system is an exercise in finding common political ground. If this small miracle of reforming health care were to happen — and there is reason to hope that it will — the road will quickly lead to Massachusetts.

Why Massachusetts? There, the legislature is controlled by Democrats. The governor, Mitt Romney, is a Republican. The state for years argued about how to reform its health care system, how to insure more people and how to pay for coverage for those who can’t afford it. But then Massachusetts overcame the odds and actually managed to agree on major changes. The specifics may not be right for California, but Massachusetts has revealed what a compromise can look like.The Governor’s health care plan, and his ability to work with Democrats to enact it, certainly are examples of his competence and leadership ability — so much so that editorial boards on the other side of the country have taken notice and approve.

Dave

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http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDNmNDUwMTY1YWZiNjU0YjU4M2E2YWI2MmZmMjE0NjE= It seems as if Governor Romney has struck a chord in the minds of other Governors in terms of his health care initiative in Massachusetts. Several other Governors are trying to model it in their own states. The National Review Online chronicles this below…

The National Governors Association’s annual meeting began Sunday in Charleston, and it appears that the hot talk of the trade is state initiatives to reform health care. Seeing how much good national publicity Gov. Mitt Romney got for a just-enacted plan in Massachusetts — despite the fact that its merits are debatable — the nation’s governors are scrambling to come up with their own versions. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who faces a tough reelection bid in Michigan, is touting something very close to the Romney plan, while other governors are emphasizing Medicaid changes, wellness plans, and other ideas. Unfortunately, most of the proposals, whether from Democrats or Republicans, would increase government control and taxpayer financing of health care, either modestly or monstrously.

The Romney model, by the way, is the subject of spirited debate among Washington free-marketeers. Analysts at the Heritage Foundation helped draft and promote it, while the Cato Institute has been highly critical.

Ann Marie

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http://www.slcatlanta.org/Louisville2006/program.htm I don’t know how I missed this one (being in my own home state of all places), but somehow I did. I can find very limited information on this though.

This is what I did find describing his speech:

A speech by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on the Massachusetts Health Insurance Initiative, which would make health insurance available to every Massachusetts resident by 2009, on Tuesday, Aug. 1, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

If anyone has any additional information on this, I’d sincerely appreciate anything you can send me.

Thanks,

Ann Marie

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This story comes from the Governor of Massachusetts Press Releases…Please excuse the slight cutoff on the right of the release.

Photo Courtesy Mass.gov

As a mother of special needs children, this really is of interest to me. With the reports of mercury possibly being the cause of neurological problems, I’m glad the Governor is taking steps to eradicate the substance from our environment.

Ann Marie

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/07/27/federal_funds_strengthen_mass_universal_health_insurance_plan/ Commentary Later, but here’s the story. AMC

By Liz Kowalczyk and Scott Helman, Globe Staff | July 27, 2006

The state’s landmark health insurance law passed an important hurdle yesterday, with the announcement that the federal government has agreed to continue providing Massachusetts $385 million in annual Medicaid money for the next two years.

State officials have said that the money, needed to subsidize coverage for low-income residents, is crucial to carrying out the ambitious new healthcare plan, which seeks to insure nearly all Massachusetts residents over the next several years .

The federal funding was considered at-risk earlier this year because Massachusetts did not finalize the law until April. Medicaid officials had said they needed the health insurance law in place much earlier to make sure it satisfied key federal criteria.

State officials said the agreement, known as a Medicaid waiver , also includes an additional $225 million annually to expand Medicaid programs for the poor.

The state’s new healthcare plan will offer a combination of subsidized and low-cost insurance plans, the expansion of Medicaid coverage , and incentives for businesses to cover workers, and also require that everyone have some form of coverage.

“It means that Massachusetts is now at the forefront of a revolution in the way we think about healthcare,” Governor Mitt Romney said at a news conference, which was attended by Michael Leavitt, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

“The reforms we crafted bring coverage to all our citizens, without a government takeover of healthcare, and without the need to raise taxes,” Romney said.

The law gradually shifts a portion of Medicaid money from payments to hospitals that serve the poor — primarily Boston Medical Center and Cambridge Hospital — to using that money to insure poor residents, a change pushed by the federal government. Most immediately, the approval of the waiver will allow the state to increase enrollment in the state-federal Medicaid program for unemployed adults.

“We’re pleased,” said Brian Rossman of Health Care for All, a Boston-based consumer advocacy group. “They will lift the cap in the next day or two, and 10,000 people will get immediate health insurance coverage.”

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who worked closely with state leaders on the new health plan, said in a statement: “Final approval of the waiver not only allows Massachusetts to keep the Medicaid funds, but also allows us to move forward with health reform. Instead of facing health care cuts, we’re well on our way to achieving our long-standing goal of health care for all.”

Leavitt said that “every component of our society” needs to contribute to giving all Americans access to “affordable, basic healthcare.”

He praised the Massachusetts program as “an important national model,” but he also warned that implementation of the insurance program could create unexpected problems.

“None of us should expect perfection here,” Leavitt said. “Mistakes are going to be made. Lessons are going to be learned. They’ll be learned by lots of people, and we’ll get better at this. But this is an important moment, and not just today in the state of Massachusetts, but also across the country.”
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/07/22/romney_criticizes_welfare_reform_bill/ Read about it at The Boston Globe.

Kevin

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Over at Illinoisians for Mitt, Jason Bonhan has linked to a Boston Globe article reviewing the good news on job growth in Mass. This is GREAT NEWS for Romney as he is a strong pro-business politician and could have been knocked if there was a net loss of jobs over his term. He slowed the loss in his first 2 years (they were hemorrhaging jobs before that) and the rebound has been going for two years. Check out his recent blog entries . . . some good stuff.

Also, Paul Schoeney at Coloradans for Romney has a GREAT review of the Mass Healthcare Plan he titled: “MITT’S MASSACHUSETTS MARVEL: Healthcare makeover improves efficiencies, broadens reach.” Many of you may know of my interest in Romney’s healthcare plan and my desire to help solve the problem of the uninsured. Romney’s plan is the most acceptable to a conservative physician like myself.

Jeff

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http://myclob.pbwiki.com/Romney%20vs%20Hillary Romney compares will with Hillary, who will probably be the democratic candidate.

Reasons to agree:

1. Hillary had an unsuccessful attempt to socialize America’s Health care industry. Romney had a successful market based reform of Massachusetts health care industry.

Romney vs Hillary

Mitt Romney is friendlier towards moms than Hillary.

Reasons to agree:

1. Hillary’s famous comment about why she went back to work when her husband was making good money and her daughter was still young. She said, “What did you want me to do, stay at home and back cookies?” Yep that’s all stay-at-home mom’s do all day long, bake cookies. They usually just lock their kids up in the bathroom and bake cookies all day long!

Links:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Promos/P148404.asp

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