Huntsman's stance on Utah health mandate questioned

May 23 2011

Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman Considered Health Care Mandate For Utah, Some Say
During a campaign stop Friday, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. presented Utah's health reform as a model for what other states could do. And, Huntsman pointed out, Utah did not mandate that people buy health insurance, unlike the Massachusetts model now a thorn for Mitt Romney. His assertion, however, was called into question by a story in the Huffington Post, under the headline "Huntsman vs. Huntsman," which quoted Utah health policy players who said Huntsman had wanted a mandate but didn't get it. ... Judi Hilman, executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project, said Huntsman understood that the mandate a "structural necessity" for health reform to work. WIthout it, young people wouldn't sign up for insurance while older, sicker people would and the exchange would crumble" (Gehrke, 5/20).

The Boston Globe: Huntsman Presses Flesh, Lays Out Agenda During N.H. Visit
As one of his last acts as governor in March 2009, he signed the bill that created a low-cost plan and an exchange to allows the uninsured to compare plans to buy. It does not require residents to buy insurance as in Massachusetts. Huntsman said yesterday that he considered but did not press for mandates, but Democrats in New Hampshire pointed to press accounts in 2008 saying that he preferred mandates (Emery, 5/21).

Des Moines Register: Medicare Issue Won't Disappear For Gingrich
Newt Gingrich's self-described popular yet "challenging week" continued Friday when a couple of Iowa GOP activists picketed against his run for president and other Iowans peppered him with questions. Their key beef: his criticisms on Sunday's "Meet the Press" about U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's Medicare plan. "I know he apologized to Paul Ryan, but he still spoke from his heart," said Don Blackford, a former Harrison County GOP chairman from Logan who held a sign shaming the former U.S. House speaker in front of a Council Bluffs campaign stop (Clayworth, 5/21).

Quad City Times: Santorum Critical Of Medicare, Obama At Davenport Stop
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said Friday he supports a Republican budget proposal that reforms Medicare. ... Santorum, who is weighing a possible run for the Republican presidential nomination, made the comments to 25 supporters during a lunch stop at Thunder Bay Grill. ... He would like to see reform to not just Medicare, but to Social Security and Medicaid as well to help bring spending and the budget deficit under control. "We better deal with this problem now," Santorum said. "If we don't deal with it responsibly, there are a lot of other countries that would like to see America not on top" (Allemeier, 5/20).

Indianapolis Star: Cut By A Door, Daniels Gets Stitches And A Health-Care Jab
If Gov. Mitch Daniels doesn't have a headache from weighing whether to run for president, he has one now -- courtesy of being smacked in the forehead by a door. Daniels needed 16 stitches Friday when he was struck by a door at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport in Indianapolis. ... News of the mishap spread quickly via Twitter and various blogs. And at least one group, ProtectYourCare.org, sent out an email expressing sympathy for Daniels but saying: "There could be a sad irony to this situation." The group asked whether Daniels was paying for his own treatment, "or is he using government-provided health care paid for by the taxpayers of Indiana at the same time he wants to repeal the benefits they got under the Affordable Care Act?" (Schneider, 5/20).