Study: RomneyCare Seems To Have Saved Lives, And Obamacare Could Too

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama spar during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y. (AP Photo/... FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama spar during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) MORE LESS
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Health care reform in Massachusetts, which was enacted under then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and was the model for Obamacare, corresponded with a drop in the state’s mortality rate, a study released Monday found.

The Los Angeles Times reported that study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found the state’s mortality rate fell by nearly 3 percent, compared to a control group, after it expanded insurance coverage.

According to the authors, that is the equivalent of one death prevented for every 830 adults who gained insurance.

“While this analysis cannot demonstrate causality, the results offer suggestive evidence that the Affordable Care Act … may impact not only coverage and access but also mortality,” the authors concluded. They did warn, however, that other factors might have contributed to the drop and cautioned against expecting the same results in other states.

The study goes hand-in-hand with another one that concluded as many as 17,000 Americans will die as a direct result of decisions by their states not to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

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  1. Well, there you go using facts to support your side.

    /conservative

  2. Avatar for jsfox jsfox says:

    You know what I find amazingly funny (or sad depending on your point of view) had Romney, by some miracle been elected in '08 we would all be living with Romneycare right now. And the Right? Oh they would be hailing it as a glorious market based solution to healthcare.

    Don’t believe me? Go listen to any number of Republicans such as Romney and Heritage’s Jim DeMint hailing Romneycare as the model for the nation back in '07.

  3. Oh, I believe you but I think it’s even worse than that. Had Obama chosen to put off healthcare until his second term or if he’d decided to chuck the idea altogether after Senate Democrats shot down single payer, Romney would’ve no doubt run on Romneycare. He’d have made Romneycare the centerpeice of his campaign. And he would quite likely be president.

  4. You just don’t understand. These lives saved may not be the right kind of people, and the death panels could potentially kill people more important to the Republicans. This, “All men are created equal” stuff has its limits, and is totally out of place in a fee-for-service health care model which God himself created for America.

  5. Maybe it’s dawning on the tea party Congress that Obamacare might work in their favor politically. As Romneycare has demonstrated, more people are living because of it, and I’m sure they’re probably primarily white.

    As much as Cruz and Co. want to portray Obamacare as a handout to blah people, it’s white people, especially the poor in red states, who are gobbling it up. With diabetes and blood-pressure under control, these voters will be alive to vote against their best interests in the future. (No one actually thinks these folks will be grateful and support the Democrats.)

    The GOP needs to think more strategically about Obamacare–more white voters who are alive, not dead.

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