Gov. Romney, in San Diego, touts Mass. insurance law

Gov. Romney, in San Diego, touts Mass. insurance law

By Keith Darcé
STAFF WRITER
San Diego Union Tribune

June 9, 2006

Lawmakers in California and other states who are grappling with health insurance reform should model their efforts after a new Massachusetts law that requires everyone in the state to obtain medical insurance by July 2007, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday in San Diego.

Measures containing portions of the Massachusetts law have been proposed in California but have either failed to become law or were rejected by voters. In recent days, however, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested that the Massachusetts law could serve as a road map for insurance reform in California.

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Romney, a Republican and a likely contender for his party's presidential nomination in 2008, spearheaded the bipartisan effort in Massachusetts to insure about 500,000 residents who didn't have health coverage. The plan, which became law in April, provides so-called universal health care coverage in several ways:

It requires Massachusetts health care providers to sign up the 106,000 uninsured poor people who are eligible for Medicaid – the federal health insurance program known as Medi-Cal in California.
It provides up to $1.2 billion a year in subsidies to low-income people who can't afford to buy insurance on their own.
And it requires insurance companies to create more attractive products for those who earn enough to buy insurance but haven't done so.

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