Obama's Other Massachusetts Problem | Aaron Yelowitz and Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Other Massachusetts Problem | Aaron Yelowitz and Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "President Obama has avoided any comparisons between his plan and the Massachusetts law, with good reason. Premiums for employer-sponsored insurance - 96 percent of the Massachusetts' market - are rising 21 percent to 46 percent faster than the national average. State officials have whitewashed the cost overruns, but they are simultaneously raising taxes and threatening to impose a Canadian-style payment system, in which doctors and hospitals do the dirty work of rationing care."

"At best, the law covered 297,000 previously uninsured residents, and the uninsured rate is 3.8 percent rather than 432,000 and 2.6 percent, as Massachusetts claims."

"Private coverage fell by 14.6 percentage points among low-income children - despite no discernable increase in total coverage - and by 6.2 points among low-income adults."

"The law's new 'individual mandate' forces those young adults to accept that bad deal or pay a penalty. As a result, the number of young adults relocating to Massachusetts has fallen by 60 percent."