The Anniversary of Romneycare (health care, Obama, leader, Massachusetts)

[Kerby W-R]

"I helped Gov. Romney develop his health care reform or Romneycare, before going down to Washington to help President Obama develop his national version of that law," says Jonathan Gruber a bright eyed MIT Health Consultant featured prominently in the video. The spot includes old footage of Romney thanking Gruber for his work on the Massachusetts health bill.
Gruber's verdict: "The core of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare and what we did in Massachusetts are identical."



The Anniversary of Romneycare - YouTube

[geeoro]

Not sure why Romney is distancing himself from Romney care.... well except that he says whatever he thinks will please the right or the people standing in front of him at the time.
The Governor of Massachusetts and others have said that Romney care is working extremely well.............
New Report Highlights Success of Romneycare Even As Mitt Romney Distances Himself From It | ThinkProgress

The Success Of "RomneyCare" In Massachusetts - Forbes

Romneycare

[tmsterp]

The core may be the same, but Obamacare was a bill nearly 30 times as long as Romneycare. 30 times as long! You can't tell me there's not a whole lot more substance in Obama's bill, much of it negative.
Here are the key differences:
- Obamacare was passed with sky-high debt and deficits and, once actually in effect, will only make those worse according to recent CBO projections
- Romney balanced the budget in MA without raising taxes. So even if his bill was expensive (I don't know the fiscal note on it) he found a way to pay for it without raising taxes

- Obamacare has a federal mandate that is very questionable in its constitutionality
- Romneycare is a state mandate. I'm not saying that this is any different policy-wise, but is very different in terms of respect for our federal system of government.

Romney believes each state should be allowed to do what works best for its own unique population, not be forced under one big federal entitlement system. This position is not only good since it respects states' rights, but it also keeps us from developing large, unpaid-for entitlement programs since most states (all but Vermont) have a constitutional amendment requiring balanced budgets. So now each state can do what works best for them, and they have to be fiscally responsible about it unlike the federal government. If they want a big government single-payer program, they can do that, but they will have to increase taxes rather than deficits. Then the residents of that state can decide if they like it or if they want to move. This is Mitt Romney's vision, and he made the residents of his state (67% approval for Romneycare) pretty darn happy. He never envisioned bringing the Massachusetts plan to the national level. I don't care if his advisers did, I don't care if the Heritage Foundation did, I don't care if every other Republican in the world did. There is no indication that Mitt Romney ever wanted to do that, and if you read his book and look at every statement he's made regarding his bill, he has made clear that he believed that what worked in MA may not work everywhere.

Furthermore, Romney has defended Romneycare every step of the way. He's not running from it at all, and he's said he's proud of what he did in Massachusetts. He's admitted he would do some things differently, but he was a pioneer in this area. Mitt Romney has successfully reformed health care better than any other leader in the history of this nation. It is working extremely well and was a great idea for Massachusetts. Obamacare is trying to force a one-size-fits-all plan onto the entire country, even states that don't want it. And on top of that, it has over 1900 more pages of extra regulations than Romneycare did.