MA Think Tank: Romneycare Added Less Than 1% to State Budget

Forbes has an interesting story up that includes an interview with Michael Widmer, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.  Widmer says that Romneycare added about $100 million to the state budget:

To pay for extra coverage, however, the state had to find an additional $350 million from its own budget. On balance, RomneyCare costs Massachusetts an extra $100 million a year from its state budget. “Not bad for a state with a $30 billion budget,” Widmer said. 

So, based on this analysis, Romneycare added 0.3% to the state budget----that's hardly a budget-buster.

Combining those numbers with the possibility that Romneycare may have actually slowed the rate of health-care spending growth in Massachusetts, one might suggest that more research into the effects of the law may be warranted.