Sunday, March 27, 2011

‘RomneyCare’ Facts and Falsehoods

H/T to Right Wingnut for introducing me to this great resource.

It seems that FactCheck.org did some research on the MA Health Care Bill that they posted just the other day.

This is some of what they found. Their article wanted to set the record straight on some claims about MA Health Care (Romneycare):

1.   The major components of the state and federal law are similar, but details vary. The federal law put a greater emphasis on cost-control measures, for instance. Massachusetts is just now tackling that. 
Analysis: ........Massachusetts has a lower coverage requirement for employers, putting just a $295 per employee “fair share assessment” on businesses that don’t provide insurance. The national law, meanwhile, has a fine of $2,000 per employee for companies that don’t offer coverage, have more than 50 workers and have at least one who receives a premium credit....... 
2.   The state law was successful on one big goal: A little more than 98 percent of state residents now have insurance.  
Analysis: .....The latest number from the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy: 98.1 percent of Massachusetts residents had health insurance in 2010.......The state does better in covering children — 99.8 percent of kids are estimated to have insurance. (Nationally, the figure is 92.6 percent.)....
 

.......Huckabee was dead wrong when he said that the law "ended up having almost the polar opposite effect of what was intended." A major goal — if not the goal — was to reduce the number of uninsured. The state was very successful in that regard. We called and e-mailed the press office for Huckabee’s political action committee several times, asking for back-up for his claims. A spokesman told us he would get back to us, but we have not yet received a response. We will update this article if we do.  
3.   Claims that the law is "bankrupting" the state are greatly exaggerated. Costs rose more quickly than expected in the first few years, but are now in line with what the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation had estimated.  
Analysis:....It certainly takes money to create a subsidy program and expand Medicaid coverage. But is the Massachusetts law “bankrupting” the state? The foundation says no. In May 2009 it put out a report called “The Myth of Uncontrolled Costs," which concluded that the net added cost to Massachusetts taxpayers was $353 million in 2010, or roughly 1.2 percent of the state budget.... 
4.   Premiums went up.
Analysis: ....The truth about premiums is that they’ve gone down for those who buy their own insurance (in what had been the so-called "individual market’), and the health care law is given credit for several reasons. And while premiums have gone up for large employers who buy coverage for their workers (the so-called "large group market"), there’s no clear evidence that the law was the cause....
5.   Despite claims to the contrary, there’s no clear evidence that the law had an adverse effect on waiting times. In fact, 62 percent of physicians say it didn’t.

6.   Public support has been high. One poll found that 68.5 percent of non-elderly adults supported the law in 2006; 67 percent still do.

Analysis:  
Claim: "… people were greatly dissatisfied." — Huckabee
Claim: "Massachusetts has a state health insurance program that they’re happy with." —
....Score one for Haley Barbour. The state’s health care efforts haven’t been plagued by claims about grandma’s life-support, as we saw on the federal level. For now, public support and physician support are both high in the state......
 Read the full article and extensive analysis HERE.

20 comments:

carlo said...

This is no surprise.

Most people who criticize Romney and Romneycare don't know what they're talking about.

What else is new?

Ann said...

I encourage everyone to read the entire article. It is long but it puts a lot of mis-information to rest and backs it up with data.

kelly said...

Bos,

I don't think Right Wingnut meant to lead you to this (-;
It just goes to show you that most people who complain about Romneycare have no clue.

Anonymous said...

Isn't federalism just great? States can do things the federal government can't. Go Mitt!

AZ

Anonymous said...

factcheck.org was very seemed very thorough in their research of the data. This should shut-up many of the Romneycare critics.

zeke

Pablo said...

"This should shut-up many of the Romneycare critics."

No, it won't shut them up. The base has absolutely no intention of discussing health care reform. They just know that they don't like Obama and any reform that even remotely resembles his plan. So, no, there will be absolutely no discussion. And Mike Huckabee will continue to lie about Romneycare and brainwash his followers.

Anonymous said...

Oh mama! This is good stuff. From now on when someone spews the false memes, I'm just going to say FACTCHECK.ORG!

-Martha

Right Wingnut said...

You guys are right! Factcheck.org is GREAT!

Romney's Ridiculous Hyperbole: He predicts more change in the next 10 years than in the last 1,000. Not likely.

Romney says in a TV ad that the U.S. will see more change in the next 10 years "than in the last 10 centuries." More than since the Dark Ages? More changes than the advent of the printing press, railroads, constitutional democracy, penicillin, electricity, telecommunications and the Internet all put together? We don't think so.

A Romney spokesman said he didn't mean what he said as fact, calling the statement "a metaphor." We call it a ludicrous exaggeration.

(...)

BOSMAN said...

HaHaHaHa!!!

RWN, You are funny!
A little premature on the criticism. Don't you think?

He said that in January 2008. It's only March of 2011.

He's got until Jan 2018 to say he was exaggerating.

You do the Math.

HaHaHaHa!

Socrates said...

RWN,

Romney once said in an interview in 2006 that he liked Skippy Peanut butter Supper crunch better than all the other brands.

Then in 2010, He said his favorite was Teddie Natural super chunk.

Now was that a flip-flop, or a sincere change of TASTE?

Johan "Mcon" said...

Lol what started WRN on his anti-Romney crusade anyway?

Anonymous said...

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

-Martha

Anonymous said...

C-Mon guys,

Let up on the Right Wingnut.

So what if Romney is near perfect and there is very little after Romneycare to go after.

Everybody ganging up on Right Wingnut is not very nice.

All he's doing is pointing out some facts from Romney's past and you guys yell, "Open Season".

Be nice

Take after the Saracuda

TEX

Doug NYC GOP said...

Tex - old friend,

RWN has launched onto some bizarre crusade of late is churning out anti-Romney so fast, the Huffington Post is trying to sign him to a contract.

If he wants to play with the big dogs (who let them out, btw?) than he's more than welcome.

Just sit back and enjoy the show, with an adult beverage of course.

Right Wingnut said...

That's not Tex

Mcon said...

RWN,

Of course not. The normal TEX isn't nearly that rational.

Anonymous said...

Pablo, how dare you portend to understand what the Republican Party deems acceptable for health care reform? Didn't you say that you agree with the mandate in ObamaCare?

jerseyrepublican

Anonymous said...

Also Pablo, you are seriously one of the most offensive bloggers on our side. What gives you the right to say that SUPPORTERS of certain candidates are brain washed by that candidate? SERIOUSLY? Couldn't the same be said of you being brain washed by Frum? Couldn't the same be said of Romney supporters being brain washed by Romney? I find it amazing that the Romney supporters, on this site, give you a pass when you mock the base. A lot of Romney supporters are more "base" than any other candidate's supporters...yet they give you a pass when you mock them...interesting. I am, most likely, more moderate than you are and I stick up for our party's base more than you do.

jerseyrepublican

Revolution 2012 said...

I thought they did a pretty good job on RomneyCare. I agree with Ann, you should check out their data and sources.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, guys, most of these points are pure bullcrap! It's late 2013 and RomneyCare sucks! You can thank Governor Mini-Me for that!