Romney's Free Market Massachusetts Health Care Most Expensive in Nation

I can't believe I'm going to say this again, but Fox News' Chris Wallace again grilled a Republican, this time Mitt Romney. The only thing missing is one or two follow up questions, but otherwise, Romney appeared unprepared or unable to seperate himself from Obama's and his own Massachusetts plan. What else can you say when Massachusetts premiums are the highest in the nation.

Romney: "Getting premiums down for the entire population is the next responsibility ... What we did was the ultimate conservative plan."

You got that right. Chris Wallace listed many of the other similarities reform has with the Massachusetts plan: Individual mandate, employer mandate, subsidies for some uninsured and minimum coverage standards. His response:

Romney: "A big difference, a state plan vs a federal plan. No new taxes unlike his plan ... and no controls over insurance premiums, price controls, cost controls like his plan. So very, very different in that regard."

So no "price controls, cost controls" is a bragging point? According to a June 1, 2009 article from Fox News:

On health care, Romney pointed to the successes of his own plan but criticized Obama's for its emphasis on a public option. "The president's plan makes an enormous error by saying we're going to put government into the insurance business. We got everyone in Massachusetts insured and we did it without putting government into the insurance business," he said. "We said instead we're going to help people get private free enterprise kind of insurance they can buy from a number of different companies." He said the system led to plunging premiums while offering a healthy choice of options for consumers.

There it is folks, an open admission by Romney himself that the Massachusetts plan is a shining example of the private free enterprise system. Right now:

1. Massachusetts health care premiums are the highest in the nation
2. Per capita spending is 27% higher than national average
3. Fiscal 2010 costs are $47 million over budget

Wallace also reminded Romney that, according to the Cato Institute, Romney "didn't raise taxes, that in fact you got millions of dollars from the federal government to finance your plan."

Romney responded that "the federal dollars, were dollars they were ENTITLED TO."

Entitled? Romney insults everyone with this god awful lie: "The president has really been disingenuous by trying to lay this at the feet of the insurance companies. NO ONE BELIEVES THAT HEALTH CARE IS EXPENSIVE IN AMERICA, BECAUSE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES."

Here's another time Chris Wallace played no favorites with his Republican guest Mitt Romney.