One of my college favorites, William Gibson, once said, "The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet."
Massachusetts' groundbreaking (and wallet-busting) foray in health care reform is a textbook example.
Less than five years after Massachusetts set the stage for state-run health care, Gov. Deval Patrick now brazenly admits that maybe it's time for firm price controls across the board.
Did I hear an "I told you so?" (Certainly wasn't me.)
I suppose it's not enough that the state's Medicaid and Medicare programs are already shifting costs, and anemic reimbursements rates are gutting providers. Now they have to face hard premium caps and regulatory rate reviews.
Now that special election is starting to make sense. I would've voted for a truck driver, too.
But, jokes aside, we need to wake up and see this (failing?) political experiment for what it is: a very real premonition of what Obamacare could bring.
Need numbers? According to the Wall Street Journal, fiscal 2010 taxpayer costs in Massachusetts soared $47 million over budget, while the state's average insurance premiums are easily the nation's highest. In the last four years, individual market rates have jumped 30 percent annually. In fact, per capita spending on health care in the Bay State is nearly 30 percent higher than the national average.
So as this new reality threatens us all like some kind of federally-funded bogeyman, I'm reminded of another college favorite, Malcolm X, who said, "The future belongs to those who prepare for it today."
Are you prepared?
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