Massachusetts health plan has national appeal

Boston Globe, December 19, 2008

Key players in the debate over how to provide healthcare coverage for the nation's 47 million uninsured say they view Massachusetts' 2006 law as a model for what Washington could do and how to get it done. Massachusetts achieved near-universal coverage by investing heavily in patching the holes in the existing system, where most people get coverage through work. The centrist approach rejects both the liberal vision of a Canadian-style Medicare-for-all system and the conservative preference to move to a deregulated market where people buy policies on their own with the help of tax credits.