A 'MODEL FOR THE NATION'

Health care costs and health insurance rates spiraled upward over the years while coverage for "preexisting conditions" declined and insurance companies placed limits on what they'd cover.

The system was most definitely broken - from the point of view of patients, at least. Health care reform had been on Democrats' wish list for a number of years - most notably during the Bill Clinton administration in 1993.

In 2006, Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts pushed through an insurance expansion bill that helped those unable to afford health insurance gain coverage through a sliding scale that determined how much residents would pay and provided

subsidies for those who couldn't pay. It set up a marketplace where coverage could be selected and contained provisions that allowed state residents to keep their coverage when switching employers. Once the law was implemented, the number of uninsured went down and the number of personal bankruptcies due to medical bills dropped. By 2010, 98.1% of Massachusetts residents had medical insurance. That compared to 90% before passage and 83.3% with coverage nationwide. "I'm proud of what we've done," Romney said in a campaign speech during his presidential bid in 2008.

"If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation."

Romney wasn't nominated by Republicans - instead, the not went to John McCain. Democrat Barack Obama won the election. And after the financial meltdown of 2008, the bailout of financial institutions and the auto industry and a $800 billion stimulus bill, Republicans suddenly had no stomach to fix the nation's health care system. Never mind the fact that the Obama Administration's proposal was based so closely on the one Romney had set up in Massachusetts.