Secession and the Massachusetts Model

Two news stories caught my attention today. First, Massachusetts is being watched carefully as a laboratory for health care reform. As a universal-coverage system, it is dealing with a lot of problems that will need innovative solutions. Second, the secessionist movement, which started in Texas, is spreading to other States on the East Coast and the Northwest. Evidently, there is growing sentiment that some States want to do things their way. Maybe there are Red States that simply don't want health care reform and don't want to have it forced down their throats by the federal government.

If we let States go their own way on health reform, here's what I predict will happen. States with universal coverage or single-payer systems will become magnets for (1) innovative small business that can't offer reasonable health benefits and (2) people looking for quality health care. Certainly, that's the case for Massachusetts. Laggard States will either become backwaters or be forced to provide some form of universal coverage that is as good as the single-payer States.

State-level experimentation might diffuse some of the secessionist turmoil and allow those who are angered by federal government initiatives to take their destiny in their own hands and live with the consequences. Hopefully, the federal government will do everything possible to help Massachusetts succeed.