What Conservatives Are Ignoring About Gruber’s Statements: Feds Funded Romneycare
One of the items that’s come out as a result of the videos of MIT’s Jonathan Gruber is being totally ignored by the media. It’s that Romneycare was able to survive because of money from the federal government that then-President Bush signed off on to help then-Governor Romney.
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Gruber: “The dirty secret in Massachusetts is the feds paid for our bill, OK? In Massachusetts, we had a very powerful Senator you may know. His name is Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy had basically figured out — Ted Kennedy and smart people in Massachusetts — had figured out a way to rip off the Feds for $400 million a year.”
He’s talking about the deal from the federal government that helped Massachusetts set up its 2006 coverage expansion, which later became the basis for the Affordable Care Act. It’s hardly a secret. And Bush re-authorized the deal in 2008.
The short story is basically this: Massachusetts, since the late 1990s, had been receiving special Medicaid funds through a waiver to fund care for populations the program traditionally didn’t cover. In 2005, President George W. Bush wanted to end that funding, worth about $350 million. But Kennedy, working with Romney, put together a deal to keep the funds and then some by expanding Medicaid and providing subsidies to help low-income people purchase private insurance. The Bush administration signed off on that deal, giving us Romneycare, which then gave us Obamacare.[su_csky_ad]
tiredoftea November 14th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
Cooperation across party lines for the public good seems so long ago!
tracey marie November 14th, 2014 at 7:48 pm
and the mittens had to lie and say the Obamacare and romney care are not the same
tdulle November 15th, 2014 at 12:42 am
Alan at this point it doesn’t matter, the damage is done. The GOP has tried, what, 40-50 times to kill Obama care? It has never been popular with the public because no one understands it, even if it’s good for them. This guy, who takes credit for planning Obama care, then goes on record ripping it, tells you of his arrogance and hubris. He’s taking credit for the ACA while simultaneously tearing it down, all the while ridiculing the American public, and all anyone can hear is “Obamacare is a scam”. So much white noise and the Democrats, and the Obama administration in particular, have done a terrible job of selling the benefits of the ACA to the public that it looks like a real loser. I expect it to now be gutted. Dems in the Hous3 won’t back it because they understand it’s political suicide. Obama is on his own on this one and he has no friends left in D.C. nor does Pelosi.
Spirit of America November 15th, 2014 at 7:05 am
I kept coming back to this thread because something was nagging at me and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I finally figured out what it was.
Is romneycare a good thing(for the people/state/financially)? The reason why I ask is if it is, why the need for the $400mil? And if obamacare is modeled after it, what did they do differently to not need outside money(meaning self-sustaining and even some claim saves money).