Editorial | Romneycare and Obamacare

A new, groundbreaking study shows that an amazing thing happened when Massachusetts passed a law in 2006 requiring virtually all its residents to obtain health insurance.

People started living longer, according to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health reported Monday in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the mortality rate — the number of deaths per 100,000 people — fell about 3 percent in the four years after the law took effect.

Under the law known as Romneycare, for then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a chief backer, the law served as a model for the Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as Obamacare.

During his failed presidential bid, Mr. Romney, a Republican, joined the noisy chorus of GOP critics attacking President Obama for his signature law to expand health insurance coverage.

But the study shows there's no disputing the success of Obamacare's little brother, Romneycare.

Health advocates are excited about the findings.

It's extremely good news for the rest of the nation as the new health law continues its rollout nationwide, particularly in Kentucky, where Gov. Steve Beshear was the only Southern governor to order creation of a state health exchange, kynect, and order expansion of Medicaid to cover Kentucky residents earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

Since day one, in the face of Republican and tea party opposition, Gov. Beshear has insisted better access to health care will mean better health and productivity for Kentuckians in a poor state where about 640,000 people lacked health coverage.

The Massachusetts study underscores those beliefs in a big way. Not only are people living longer, the biggest gains were in counties with the highest proportions of poor and previously uninsured people.

And the biggest declines were in deaths from diabetes, heart disease and cancer, three conditions that plague Kentuckians in disproportionately high numbers — diseases that can be more effectively treated if caught early.

But people need access to health care to catch conditions early and it appears that's what's happening in Massachusetts.

One Massachusetts doctor told The Times he's seeing fewer people delay care or refuse services they once feared too expensive — such as the patient prior to Romneycare who was suffering chest pains but refused an ambulance ride to the hospital because of the cost.

Another described a patient who avoided treatment until she got insurance only to find she had breast cancer complicated by other, untreated conditions.

Many Republicans have staked their success in this year's elections on tearing down the Affordable Care Act.

But it's increasingly apparent it's working for the American public.

In Kentucky, more than 413,000 people have signed up for health coverage under the law.

Nationwide, 8 million people signed up for coverage and the good news is that 35 percent of those are under 35 years old — a key measure of the program's success in attracting younger and healthier people to keep insurance premium costs down.

In all, the federal goverment reports that about 20.8 million people have obtained coverage because of the health law.

That includes an additional 4.8 million people covered by Medicaid, 5 million who bought insurance on their own and 3 million young adults who may stay on their parents' plans up to age 26.

The Romneycare study shows Obamacare can work. It's working now.

But it will keep working only if we don't let critics destroy it.