Check out this great cartoon from David Horsey of the Seattle P-I:

This cartoon, of course, is comparing Romney's state health care plan passed in Massachusetts with Hillary's mandated universal health care plan, which may include garnishing wages of those who can afford but who refuse to buy the plan.

Yep, Massachusetts' health care plan was mandated. See this clip from an April 2006 Businessweek.Com article:

The bill, approved by the heavily Democratic Massachusetts legislature on Apr. 4, marries conservative and liberal ideas. For the first time ever in the U.S., all state residents would be required to have health insurance -- dubbed an individual mandate. Gov. Mitt Romney, a moderate Republican expected to run for the White House in 2008, champions this as a conservative victory that leads residents to take responsibility for their own health insurance. He says he plans to sign the bill soon, although he may first try to change some smaller provisions.

HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED. The legislation also includes such liberal measures as huge government subsidies to help low-income individuals buy insurance. What's more, all companies with 11 or more workers are required to help pay for health insurance -- a so-called employer mandate.

...

The bill aims to cover 95% of the state's 500,000 uninsured within three years. To do that, Romney and the legislature split them into three categories. One group is comprised of nearly 100,000 poor people who qualify for Medicaid but haven't yet signed up. Covering them will cost about $225 million a year, although the federal government will pick up half the tab.

The second group, numbering around 200,000, are low-income families and individuals who don't qualify for Medicaid but are too poor to buy health insurance on their own. Nationally, this is the core of the uninsured, since more than 70% of the 45 million uninsured Americans have family incomes under $50,000, according to Families USA. Massachusetts plans to cover these people with big subsidies.

Those earning up to 100% of the federal poverty level would get what amounts to a free ride -- they wouldn't have to pay any premiums or any deductibles. Those making between 100% and 300% of the poverty level would pay part of their premiums, based on a sliding scale.

PENALTIES AS MOTIVATION. That leaves another 200,000 or so uninsured higher-income individuals who are the prime target of the individual mandate. Massachusetts is taking a carrot-and-stick approach. The carrot: a series of insurance-market reforms to make it easier and cheaper to buy insurance. For starters, the state will create a "health insurance connector," an innovation "that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy insurance as if they were a large company," says Dr. Marylou Buyse, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans.

The stick: Beginning in 2008, individuals who don't have insurance will be subject to a penalty equal to half the cost of health insurance. Last year, coverage for an individual ran about $4,000 a year, and nearly $11,000 for a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. "That's a significant penalty," says John McDonough, executive director of Healthcare for All, a consumer advocacy group.

Advocates defend the approach, saying it's similar to requiring drivers to buy auto insurance. But it's still untested, and many Americans may resist being told to pay out for something at least some now choose to go without.

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STICKY POINTS. The employer mandate, while low, is another potentially controversial issue. The bill would require companies with 11 or more employees that don't provide health insurance to pay up to $295 a year per worker. Still, "there's strong support in the business community for this measure," says Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation. "This equalizes the burden between companies who don't provide health care and those who do."

How all this works in practice will also hinge on how affordable health insurance becomes. Murphy, who helped Romney design the individual mandate, predicts reforms authorized by the law -- including higher deductibles and cost-efficient provider networks -- could cut premiums in half, to $200 a month for individuals and $500 a month for families. But others are skeptical. "There's an awful lot that still has to be worked out, but I wouldn't hold my breath" that costs will fall that far," cautions Healthcare for All's McDonough.

Rabbit trail: Notice that the article mentioned Romney as a "moderate Republican", and yet also mentioned that he was planning on running for president this year. Funny...Gov. Romney has been trying as hard as a little kid learning how to tie his shoes to portray a strong, Reaganesque conservatism for Republicans in this race.

Back to the topic, Romney's socialized health care plan in Massachusetts bears quite a bit of resemblance to the plan that Hillary is proposing for the whole country. So-called conservatives health care plan = uber-liberal's health care plan. I'm seeing some problems here. And no, I don't want to hear the line about Romney's governing philosophy--it's something we call pandering, and it merely proves, once again, that the guy has little conviction.

So it's 2008, and that 95% of the 500,000 uninsured Massachusetts citizens should be insured now, right?

Well, sure...lot's of people are getting insured...too many, really. Shockingly enough, over 90% of those who newly signed up for health insurance all signed up for the subsidized health insurance. Unfortunately, health care costs have risen...dramatically:

Massachusetts Healthcare Plan Costs Skyrocket
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
January 25, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - According to recent reports, the cost of Massachusetts' health insurance mandate will rise 85 percent, or $400 million, in 2009. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), meanwhile, has been on the presidential campaign trail praising the program he put into place.

According to The Boston Globe, the cost increase is largely due to an increase in the number of people signing up for state-subsidized health insurance. State and federal taxpayers are likely to shoulder the cost increase.

"Essentially, the people who signed up under the mandate were the people who were getting subsidies," said Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the libertarian Cato Institute.

Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate at Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, added, "What we've seen happen in Massachusetts is that lots of people are signing up for subsidized care," although "just 7 to 8 percent of the people who have newly signed up for health insurance have enrolled in a program they must pay full price for."

Tanner told Cybercast News Service that the state will likely need to raise taxes to cover the additional costs.

Romney has been glorying in the fact that no extra money had to be raised to fund this program (Little known fact: money grows on trees in Massachusetts), but now so many people are signing up for subsidized health care (SHOCKER), and health care costs are rising, and he obviously didn't account for that. Now the state is looking at possibly raising taxes (or "fees", whichever you prefer) to help fund the program.

The moral of the story? Socialized health care, like communism, looks good on paper and only on paper. God save us if universal socialized health care ever materializes in this country.

-Cydney

Cross-posted on The Celebrity.