Romney sees 'consumer' health care in the post-health law landscape

Jun 14 2012

As the country awaits the health law decision and President Barack Obama appears to be playing down campaign talk about the health law, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney took the opposite approach by offering his vision of health care in America when the law is undone.  

The Associated Press: Obama Doesn't Emphasize Issues He Fought Hard For
Fighting for re-election, President Barack Obama is playing down his historic health care overhaul and the multibillion-dollar recession-fighting stimulus -- two landmark efforts of his first three years in office. Those signature policies are unpopular, and voters clearly want the candidates to focus instead on jobs (Thomas, 6/12).

Los Angeles Times: Romney Touts Health Care Plans Ahead Of Supreme Court Ruling
With the Supreme Court on the verge of determining the fate of President Obama's health care overhaul, Mitt Romney sought to position himself Tuesday as a champion of affordable coverage for the middle class. In remarks to a few hundred supporters in the warehouse of an air-filter maker, Romney expanded on his pledge not just to repeal "Obamacare," but to replace it (Finnegan, 6/12).

The Washington Post: Romney Outlines Plan To Make Health Care System Like 'Consumer Market'
Addressing supporters in Orlando, Romney fleshed out a plan that he proposed earlier, one that would apply free-enterprise principles to the nation's health care system rather than operate it like a "government-managed utility," letting competition drive down prices and increase quality. He also vowed to divert federal Medicaid money and other federal funding to state governments, making them responsible for covering the uninsured. And he promised that his plan would help cover people with preexisting conditions, one of the more popular components of Obama's law (Rucker, 6/12).

Reuters: Romney Sees 'Consumer' Health Care After Obama Plan
Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday laid out his vision for a "consumer market" health care approach to replace President Barack Obama's sweeping reform law, whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the legislation this month. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told supporters in Orlando, Florida, that he would prevent people with pre-existing medical conditions with a history of health coverage from losing their insurance (6/12).

The Associated Press: Romney Health Care Vision Short On Detail
Anticipating the death of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, Mitt Romney outlined his plans Tuesday to expand coverage to the nation's uninsured, while protecting at least one popular safeguard that would be eliminated should the Supreme Court strike down the law. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee promised to help maintain coverage for those with pre-existing health conditions and expand tax breaks to individuals wishing to purchase health insurance directly, instead of through their employer (Peoples, 6/12).

Bloomberg: Romney Outlines Health Care Plan As Supreme Court Weighs Law
Mitt Romney pledged to replace the U.S. health care overhaul with a plan relying on private markets to provide "access to good health care" for every American, as he revived attacks on President Barack Obama's signature achievement that the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to rule on. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told small- business owners in Orlando, Florida, that he would implement policies, including tax breaks, aimed at helping the private market care for the uninsured and those with preexisting medical conditions (Lerer and Runningen, 6/13).

National Journal: Romney Calls Obama Out Of Touch On Hiring Impact Of 'Obamacare'
Mitt Romney used President Obama's health care law on Tuesday to hammer him as out of touch with the economy, arguing that Obama is naively unaware of the impact of the Affordable Care Act on small businesses. "Now just yesterday the president said something else that shows just how much out of touch he is. He said he didn't understand that 'Obamacare' was hurting small business; he doesn't understand that Obamacare impacts small business, and you have to scratch your head about that," Romney told an audience of about 300 at Con Air Industries, a Florida HVAC product manufacturer and distributor (Huisenga and Kaplan, 6/12).

And, in election tallies --

Arizona Republic: Ron Barber Will Serve Out Gabrielle Giffords' Term
More than a year after the nation's attention was focused on critically injured then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and those killed and wounded alongside her, the spotlight returned Tuesday to southern Arizona as her former aide Ron Barber won the special election to serve out her remaining term. … [Democrats] hammered [Republican Jesse] Kelly on statements about privatizing Social Security, phasing out Medicare and opposing any corporate income tax (Sanders, 6/13).