Tracy, all true except that the families switched themselves- they wanted to join the scheme. And the socialized scheme at $27/child compared to the insurance cost of $55 per child means it was costing half as much for identical care from the same providers in the same facility.
If necessary Hawaii should have tried to levy a special tax- affluent families offered $55 insurance versus $27 special tax still would have seen it as a win even though it wasn't "free." Now that the scheme is canned it will be interesting to see Hawaii's request for its share of the extra government funding when the time comes- I have a hunch we know what it will include. ;-)
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
