Common Sense Health Care

Mitt Romney, the Republican governor of Massachusetts, was on Fox News today touting his incredible accomplishments at instituting the first state-wide mandatory health coverage in the Nation. He was calling it “Universal Health Care” which is a misnomer, however, the idea behind it is so simple it is absurd that it hasn’t been implemented until now.

The idea is modeled after other states that require drivers to have auto insurance. Each person in Massachusetts must buy health insurance for themselves or face a fine. The poorest can receive help in purchasing insurance from the state, and those slackers that refuse to get insurance pay heftier fines or taxes on their annual incomes to cover the difference.

This should allow the market to solve the insurance issues, without the meddling of the state bureaucracies getting in the way. More people will be insured, and it should drive down the cost of healthcare in the state. Thus driving down the cost of insurance.

From Reuters here:

BOSTON (Reuters) – Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney signed a bill on Wednesday that makes it the first U.S. state to require residents to have health insurance.

In a ceremony rich in historical symbolism at Boston’s 18th-century Faneuil Hall, the Republican governor and likely presidential candidate said Massachusetts was “once again taking a giant leap forward” as he signed the bill under portraits of Revolutionary War heroes.

The bill, seen as a possible national model as traditional employer-based coverage shrinks nationwide, will provide health care to about 95 percent of the state’s half-million uninsured residents by 2009.

Its backers compared it to laws in most states that force drivers to carry auto insurance. Similarly, all Massachusetts adults must carry health insurance by 2007 or face a fine, spreading costs among citizens, employers and government.

The plan, a likely centerpiece to Romney’s expected campaign for the White House in 2008, comes at a time when about 46 million Americans are uninsured and there is growing concern across the country over the diminishing number of people who can afford the soaring cost of insurance premiums.

And, I must say, Romney is looking presidential. Will he be able to draw a traditional blue state like Massachusetts in the next election if he receives the party nomination?