On the verge of its passage, the reform bill^[1] — which does not house a public option nor a much ballyhooed Medicare buy-in (as if it would), the spinmiesters amongst the Democrats have already started explaining why the party’s acquiescence to the GOP in getting to where we are now is a good thing. Up first, Massachusetts’ only senator at the moment and former pres. candidate John Kerry on why the reform bill is good for his state:

I can announce today not just that Massachusetts will not be penalized for having already reformed its health care system but that the Majority Leader has agreed to include a provision that will provide Massachusetts with additional federal funds for Medicaid for the next three calendar years — roughly $500 million — that’s half a billion dollars — more than we otherwise would have had.

Kerry is essentially promising the state a stimulus package to expand its Medicaid matching funds.  Since Mass. has spent more than double in 2007-08 than what it did in the first year of its Commonwealth Care subsidy, we certainly know that the origins of this $.5B windfall are from nowhere close to Massachusetts — literally and figuratively. Just who is footing the bill for bailing out Kerry’s home turf over its unsustainable healthcare spending? Perhaps he’ll say after he’s re-elected — which is probably the entire point of this photo-op. | LINK

1. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [↩]

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