States Have Demonstrated That ObamaCare will Fail

In my lecture on the pros and cons of federalism, I talk about how one of the greatest benefits of having a federal system is that states can experiment with policies and if they are bad policies only that particular state will suffer and not the whole nation. If states raise speed limits to 70, is there an increase in traffic deaths (no). If states legalize gambling, will it raise crime rates (no). Etc. Because of federalism, states can try out different ideas and policies on major issues facing our nation today- gay marriage, legalized pot, assisted suicide, etc- and if those policies work, other states can copy them, and if they don't, other states will not have suffered by our whole nation trying those policies. This is one of the major benefits of federalism. And we are ignoring it in the healthcare debate.

Peter Suderman, writing for the Wall Street Journal, points this out in his very good article "The Lesson of State Health-Care Reforms" where he argues that all of the major provisions of ObamaCare already have been tried in the states, and in each case, they've led to increased costs and reduced access to care.

Like participants in a national science fair, state governments have tested variants on most of the major components of the health-care reform plans currently being considered in Congress. The results have been dramatically increased premiums in the individual market, spiraling public health-care costs, and reduced access to care. In other words: The reforms have failed.

In his article, he talks about New York's guaranteed coverage regardless of prior condition policy and community ratings that don't take into account health policy, and judges them as an absolute failure. He looks at Massachusetts and find that states plan a failure. Maine offered a plan similar to the one that the Democrats are proposing the US do- it was a total failure. As was Tennessee's TennCare plan, which worked so poorly that it soon faced bankruptcy.

The point is that Obama and the Democrats are going to do things to our nation that have failed, failed badly, and failed consistently in every state where they were attempted. And they will fail again when the whole nation implements them. And then the Democrats will run around blaming everyone else for their failed policies and put in place more failed policies that will only hurt the nation more. That's Michigan's experience, and I suggest that you look to states like ours to see what happens when you put an inexperienced leader in charge who talks about change and hope but in reality only taxes and regulates until there are no more jobs left.