Jonathan Gruber is a policy wonk after my own
heart. Detailed, relentless, fact-based, and possessed of a sly sense of humor
as evidenced by his new oeuvre: Health Care Reform : the comic book.
Gruber, an MIT economist, was a chief architect of RomneyCare in Massachusetts
and served as an advisor to the Obama administration on the Affordable Care
Act. So where does he stand on Romney's stand on health care
reform? It is "disingenuous" in Gruber's words. And that's just
word one.
Gruber's perspective is the smoking gun that the Mitt Romney of 2005 was
serious about health care reform, knew its permutations and reasons for being,
and his shrill disavowals of 2011 are a canard. The reason? Gruber,
who know both bills intimately, says the federal bill is the same bill.
It is simply more aggressive on cost controls, an aspect the state-based plan
did not have the leverage to address. And yes, the Affordable Care Act does incorporate rudimentary elements
of systemic cost control, especially for subscribers, which the Massachusetts
plan did not include.
What does this say about Romney? The term "intellectually dishonest"
comes to mind. "
[Read the
entire article, an Editor's Pick, at Open Salon:
