Policy

Mitt Romney Wants Everyone to Know That He's Still Proud of Paving the Way for ObamaCare

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who presided over the passage of a health care overhaul nearly identical to the federal overhaul is still defending his state-based starter-version of ObamaCare. From Politico:

Mitt Romney rejected Mike Huckabee's call for him to admit that the "RomneyCare" health care program failed, instead saying he's "proud" of "getting everyone covered" when he was governor of Massachusetts.
"Mitt Romney is proud of what he accomplished for Massachusetts in getting everyone covered," Romney's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, told the Boston Globe, in the first direct response Team Mitt made to Huckabee's criticism of the health plan in his new book.

According to The Boston Globe, Romney blames poor implementation by his Democratic successors for some of the law's failures. Apparently, it was all their fault that a law that set up a system of generous middle class insurance subsidies, enabled easy system gaming, and expanded Medicaid rolls ran dramatically over budget—and, according to the state officials, put patients and businesses across the state at risk of bankruptcy. 

Of course, Romney also wants everyone to know he thinks the federal overhaul that was modeled on the plan he signed into law is a really, really bad idea—despite the fact that the White House has been happy to highlight the similarities between the two plans. According to his spokesman, Romney believes that the federal law was a terrible mistake: "What's important now is to return to the states the power to determine their own healthcare solutions by repealing Obamacare. A one-size-fits-all plan for the entire nation just doesn't work." ObamaCare for me, but not for thee?

Click here for a previous episode of Mitt Romney vs. ObamaCare