The Obama administration\u2019s former chief of Medicare and Medicaid is running for Governor of Massachusetts, and hints that his goal is to turn Romneycare into a single-payer system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time to seriously explore the possibility of a single payer system<\/strong> in Massachusetts,\u201d declares Donald Berwick\u2019s campaign website<\/a>. (Emphasis in the original) \u201cI will work with the Legislature [to] assemble a multi-stakeholder Single Payer Advisory Panel to investigate and report back within one year on whether and how Massachusetts should consider a single payer option.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with achieving this goal, Berwick makes a series of other promises that seem breathtaking when one considers the amount of information, oversight and control necessary to fulfill them. Again, all bolded words appear the same way on the site.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will personally lead a statewide initiative to make Massachusetts the healthiest state in the nation<\/strong>, through smoking cessation, obesity prevention and reduction, and specific programs to curb domestic and physical violence. I do not dispute that Americans in general \u2013 and apparently Massachusetts in particular \u2013 are suffering from very serious problems like obesity, substance abuse and suicide, along with all the ancillary problems that follow in their wake. But how is it sensible to assume, as Berwick\u2019s manifesto does, that politicians can solve these deeply personal problems \u2013 abetted by a nihilistic culture \u2013 through bureaucratic fiat?<\/p>\n Moreover, who is going to pay for all this? Nowhere does Berwick mention the massive increases in state spending his plan implicitly calls for, since Massachusetts will now need an army of public employees to collect data, push ad campaigns and fine or penalize those who don\u2019t change their behavior.<\/p>\n
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We will stop the obesity epidemic in Massachusetts<\/strong>.
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We will reduce substance abuse and suicide rates by 50% in Massachusetts in the next decade.<\/strong>
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Massachusetts will be the national leader in patient safety.<\/strong><\/p>\n