Ezra Klein - Column: A world with an individual mandate

Ezra Klein of the Washington post writes a column on the Massachusetts healthcare law which was enacted by Republican Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006 (who as a presidential candidate now may have to distance himself from it to defeat Sarah Palin for the nomination because it is virtually identical to the plan Obama enacted). Klein presents data showing that the rate of uninsured there has dropped to 2% since 2006 while in the US as a whole it has increased to 16% over the same period. He also argues that premiums have decreased 14% in Massachusetts while increasing 40% nationwide. He concedes that other healthcare costs have remained high in the state and other problems remain.

Ezra Klein - Column: A world with an individual mandate

One hole in his argument is that he does not present data (I don't know if any has been collected or not) on how health outcomes in Massachusetts are or are not improving there relative to the rest of the US. The jury is still out on this plan and public plans should still be considered.

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