Health reform gets messy in MA

Gov. Deval Patrick wants Massachusetts to "crack the code" on healthcare costs, a punchy slogan he uses when he's promoting nationally the Bay State's cost-containment efforts. But transforming his ambition into policy has produced some messy sausage-making in his state Legislature. Key stakeholders aren't sure whether the springtime rush to craft a state approach to health care costs will create a national model—much the way Massachusetts's 2006 coverage expansion signed by Gov. Mitt Romney helped create a framework for President Barack Obama's 2010 national health law. In fact, some are wondering whether the cost-savings effort will even work in Massachusetts.