Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Romney urges Clinton to defend her work on universal health care


Wonderful story at IowaPolitics.com.

Sen. Hillary Clinton must defend her universal health care plan, and not leave it to her husband President Bill Clinton to take the blame for its failing in 1993, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday at Des Moines University.

The New York senator is running for president, and must defend her universal health care plan, Romney said. "It is very nice of President Clinton to try and take the blame for things that happened in the past," Romney said.

"She is the one running for president now, not him. She is the one who is going to have to stand up and defend HillaryCare version 1.0 and version 2.0."

Bill Clinton said during a Nov. 8 campaign stop in Glenwood, that the failure of the health care plan "was more my fault than hers. We couldn't raise the money."

Romney contrasted his plan to Clinton's plan. "Her proposal then and her proposal now calls for more government insurance," Romney said. "

That is the wrong way to go. We have a very different approach. My plan says use the money we are already spending. My approach is based on free enterprise and personal responsibility; hers is based on government."


This should make us confident that Mitt can hammer Hillary. Mitt is expert on teasing out the facts of history and making Hillary (and others) accountable.

Specifics Mitt thoughts on our insurance situation:

Deregulating the private health insurance market is one key in lowering insurance premiums and a key to Romney's plan. Deregulating and giving people a chance to buy more affordable insurance can also help lower the cost of premiums, Romney said. That is what occurred in Massachusetts, where monthly premiums dropped from $335 to $184 under the state's health insurance reform.

Romney pointed out that insurance premiums differ across the nation, which is another reason why the industry should be deregulated. Wisconsin annual premiums averaged $1,254. Iowa's yearly premiums average $2,202, while New Jersey residents pay an average of $5,326 each year for insurance.

Under the Romney plan, states would have more flexibility to assist low-income residents. That flexibility would allow states to make sure low-income uninsured get private instead of government health insurance. And, that is important as Medicaid costs are projected to skyrocket in the next decade.

Romney told the crowd the U.S. spends more than $181 billion on Medicaid, and that figure is estimated to reach $417 billion by 2017.

"We need to find a way to rein in the cost of health care in this country," Romney said. "We can get everybody in this country insured."

And, that can be done in four years -- without a lot of government involvment, Romney said.

"There is no need in this country for the government to take over health care," he said.

Mitt's the right answer. Hillary would be a disaster.

No comments: