Romney's Health Care Plan, Redux

Remember back when we were discussing Mitt Romney’s health care plan. At the time I was unsure whether the Reason article marked a departure from an aspect of his plan—that is, to raise the eligibility age on Medicare from 65 to 67.

Well, in his big speech at Ford Field, Romney reiterated that part of his original plan.

Leaving aside the political aspects of this story, I’ve always wondered how it’s considered supportive of business (as Romney claims he is) to propose a policy that sloughs off $4.5 billion (estimated) in health care costs to business. It’s also a classic manifestation of solving the health care problem halfway—to solve health care, you can’t just attack costs or quality, you have to figure out the intersection to really get it right. Raising the eligibility age just attacks costs, and only for the government’s balance sheets (only the entity best-positioned to absorb a spare $7.6 billion or so).