The question sought to established universal health care coverage in Massachusetts, along with a giant government bureaucracy to manage it. Conservative estimates place the cost of running such a plan at well over $1 billion a year, all at the expense of taxpayers.

After collecting the required signatures to place the question on the ballot, many of the petition's original sponsors abandoned the measure. As time went by, more and more health care experts came to realize that the question, as drafted, would have damaged our current system. The economic impact in a state, that is heavily weighted in health care industries, could have been crippling.

"Most serious people understand that our health care system is broken, but this was not the way to fix it. Despite increasing costs and some problems with HMOs, our members have fantastic health care plans, at a relatively affordable price," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "Besides, there is only so much the state can do on its own without Washington first taking action."