Although the failings of the Massachusetts health plan have been well-documented here and in other free market blogs, some states are still pursuing similar health care proposals. It's good to see that at least one politician from Massachusetts recognizes the plan for what it is -- a failure.

As we approach the two-year anniversary of the Massachusetts health-care mandate law, we are learning that our poorest residents will have to pay even more for their insurance premiums and co-payments or face the ever-growing sanctions of state government....

A primary reason why our health care costs are so high is that the state mandates that certain types of coverage be included in every policy. The new health program does nothing to reduce or eliminate these mandates and it does not allow for real customer choice of insurance products.

The state also failed to reform the various administrative burdens health care providers face, and made no attempt to reform our medical and tort liability system....

So, at the end of the day, all we really did was force everyone in the commonwealth to purchase a health insurance policy and impose a new tax on the business community. We did practically zero to reduce costs. In fact, it is possible that we actually created new costs.

Hopefully politicians in other states will listen to this on-target analysis.