RomneyCare's Present Forecasts Obamacare's Future

Rising costs and intrusive regulations are Massachusetts's reality and a likely outcome for the rest of the country

ObamaCare's illusions are starting to fall like autumn leaves, even among some liberals, and what they're discovering are things that have happened over and over again in Massachusetts. Beacon Hill "reformed" health care four years before Capitol Hill, and ever since it has reliably predicted the national trend—on surging costs, price controls, physician shortages and so much else.

So Boston's latest adventure deserves particular scrutiny, since odds are its methods are coming soon to a hospital near you. After more than a year and a half of debate, last week the legislature passed a far-reaching "cost containment" bill that Democratic Governor Deval Patrick is about to sign. It is the inevitable postscript to the model that Mitt Romney introduced in 2006.