A fable of reinventing the same failed policy and expecting different results: 
“Want a preview of ObamaCare in action? Sneak a look at what has happened in Maine. In 2003, the state to great fanfare enacted its own version of universal health care. Democratic Governor John Baldacci signed the plan into law with a bevy of familiar promises. By 2009, it would cover all of Maine’s approximately 128,000 uninsured citizens. System-wide controls on hospital and physician costs would hold down insurance premiums. There would be no tax increases. The program was going to provide insurance for everyone and save businesses and patients money at the same time.”
The above quote comes from The Wall Street Journal who weighed in last Friday on Maine’s Dirigo Health Program – drawing parallels between the failed plan and Obama’s proposed health plan in Congress by citing research from The Maine Heritage Policy Center.
The article, appropriately entitled “No Maine Miracle Cure: Another state ‘public option’ that failed”, is spot on in terms of recognizing that the “insure everyone” idea of healthcare is built on a premise which holds that everyone has a “right” to healthcare. Be that true or not, Maine is now looking at well over a $200 million shortfall in the state budget, in a state with a just bit over a million citizens.
Copyright © 2010 The Atlas Network.
Developed by The Liberty Lab
This article is bullshit. Im from maine, and this article is confusing 2 totally different things. They are trying to compare MaineCare, which is the universal healthcare system in Maine, with Dirigo choice, which was a cheaper alternative to private healthcare that was also partly run bythe state. Dirigo Choice failed, but the MaineCare universla healthcare system is still alive and well in Maine. A lot of doctors prefer it to private insurance!