Massachusetts health plan has national appeal

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.