Is the Bay State the model for Obama's healthcare plan?

Our President-elect promises to revamp the country’s entire healthcare system, but what does his plan actually entail? Experts say this example should give a pretty good indication.

In 2006, MA Gov. (at the time) Mitt Romney signed a universal healthcare law into place.

Many feel this state’s healthcare plan should give a fairly accurate representation of how Obama’s plan will pan out, albeit on a much smaller scale.

But where’s the evidence? The prospective Obama plan — like the MA plan — takes a laissez-faire stance on the current employer-based healthcare system, while promising to provide individuals with access to less-costly insurance in the group market. And, like MA, employers who don’t offer health insurance will be penalized under the Obama plan.

While the goal — reducing the number of uninsured Americans — is certainly noble, it will likely be costly for employers.

Take MA, facing a penalty of $295 per employee, many companies who didn’t offer heath benefits instead opted to start including them — even though it was more expensive.

We’ll keep you posted on the details of Obama’s healthcare plan and what it means for businesses. In the meantime, now is a good time to do some research on reigning in the rising cost of heath insurance.