Click here for an op-ed column in the new edition of the Boston Business Journal written by Barbara Berke, Gov. Mitt Romney’s highly respected, former director of the Massachusetts Department of Business & Technology. Here are her own well-written words in support of the House proposed 5-7% payroll assessment on employers who don’t provide health insurance to their workers:
“… for each firm that will be obliged to pay its fair share for health insurance under the House bill, there will be more than 18 firms that have the potential to see their costs reduced.
Not only is this reform good for businesses, it is good for the Massachusetts economy as a whole. The increased spending on health care from establishing near-universal coverage will trigger a net $400 million increase in the commonwealth’s GDP. This growth will create approximately 8,000 new jobs and new opportunities for Massachusetts businesses.”
Earlier this month, a white paper written by Romney’s former Health and Human Services Secretary Ron Preston was released. That paper proposed a $150 per month per uninsured workers head tax on employers who don’t cover their workers.
Does two make a trend? (Do I remember some Arlo Guthrie song about three being a movement?) Which former Romney official will be next to endorse employer responsibility in health care? Nominations are now officially open …
