Maine, Tennessee, Massachusetts Universal Healthcare Plans a Bust

October 12, 2009 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Communism, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Freedom, Government, Corruption, Health, House of Representatives, Liberals, President, Senate, Socialism, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston |

-By Warner Todd Huston

Both President Obama and the Democratic Congress have ignored the mess that three states have made of their economy and tax burden by attempting to create a public option and/or universal healthcare. Tennessee has its TennCare program, Maine has tried a “public option” program, and Massachusetts has its RomenyCare system that promises healthcare for all. Each of them has been a boondoggle for the taxpayers and has failed to deliver promised savings and enhanced coverage.

In fact, each of these states have begun to cut services to people because the costs have skyrocketed despite claims that “savings” would occur and that everyone would get more coverage.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal had a piece by Wendy Williams saying that the “fines” Massachusetts imposed on people who ostensibly didn’t have insurance coverage — an idea that Obama wants included in his Obamacare policies — now falls even on people with insurance in the Bay State.

Initially this fine imposed by the Mass. legislature was supposed to force people to get healthcare insurance. But “without informing anyone” the legislature decided just getting insurance wasn’t good enough. To avoid the fine now Mass. residents have to get the kind of insurance of which the government approves.

Why? Because Massachusetts requires every resident to have health insurance, and this year, without informing us directly, the state had changed the rules in a way that made our bare-bones policy no longer acceptable. Unless we ponied up for a pricier policy we neither need nor want—or enrolled in a government-sponsored insurance plan—we would have to pay $1,000 each year to the state.

Mrs. Williams and her husband saved their whole lives, paid their mortgage, paid down their bills, all in order to live as self-sufficient citizens. And now, because they don’t have the sort of insurance that the Sate of Massachusetts approves of, they have become criminals in the eyes of the state and must be fined accordingly.

But, here is the most salient part of this story. Initially, Mr. And Mrs. Williams were not affected by the RomneyCare fine. The original law allowed that all a citizen had to do to avoid the fine was to get some sort of insurance. But now the rules have changed. Now Massachusetts has decided to force people to buy a particular sort of healthcare insurance. And that is precisely the thing here.

Once government decides that it has the power to intervene and regulate a thing, the capriciousness of government is forever visited upon that thing. All it takes is some idiot Senator, or some bought off Representative to decide to slip in a change to the law to suit his patrons or serve his wild ideas. The people can never count on government to make a rule and stick with it. Changes will happen every year and people will be left negatively affected.

So, even if you think only “the rich” are going to be hurt by Obamacare, think again. Sooner, rather than later, YOU will be hit hard by some fool official in the government that changes the rules. And those rules will change so much that neither you nor your doctor will be able to keep up with them.

The best healthcare reform is to get government OUT of it. The more government gets its greedy hands on a thing, the more ineffective that thing becomes. It’s just that simple.

(Cross posted at HealthcareHorseRace.com.)
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as NewsBusters.org, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.

He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

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