Bad News for Obama, and Romney Too – ObamneyCare Down

The Massachusetts health care system was held up as the national model for Obamacare, and it made perfect political sense because it had the blessing of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama (Credit: WhiteHouse.gov)

Now the exchange for RomneyCare, signed into law in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, has collapsed. While it might have been the pioneer laying the groundwork for the national boondoggle, it’s only the third state system to collapse since the federal government moved in. 

But Massachusetts carries major significance on the health care issue because as recently as last year, President Obama was heralding his own health care plan in Boston by proclaiming the similarities between the state and federal laws.

Even though Romney campaigned in 2012 on repealing Obamacare, the collapse doesn’t reflect well on his legacy as governor. And nothing seems to reflect well for the president regarding Obamcare, except the sketchy enrollment figures that no Democrat outside the White House seems anxious to touch.

From the New York Times:

 

Massachusetts will stop trying to fix its deeply flawed health insurance website and instead buy new software to help its residents enroll in coverage, officials there said Monday. But the state will also prepare to join the federal insurance marketplace by the next enrollment period, which starts in November, in case the new system is not working in time.

In fairness to Romney, the Times says:

The site worked well until it was revamped last year to comply with the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health care law.

Since Obamacare was enacted, the health care exchanges in Oregon and Maryland imploded. Meanwhile the states of Hawaii, Nevada and Vermont have experienced extreme difficulties in getting their sites going.