Only a matter of time: Romney flip-flops on Romneycare

Just last week in an interview with Bret Baier, Governor Romney adamently defended Romneycare as a state’s rights issue. Romney has consistently defended Romneycare as a mandate that was right for the people of Massachusetts, but not necessarily right for the entirety of America, until today. The Washington Examiner reports:

When Romney visited the Washington Examiner offices Wednesday morning, I asked what states would benefit by adopting the system he created in Massachusetts.

“In its entirety, not very many,” Romney answered. “Because it’s not even perfect for Massachusetts. At the time we created it, I vetoed several measures and said these, I think, are mistakes, and you in Massachusetts will find you have to correct them over time. But that’s the nature of a piece of legislation of this nature. You’ll see what works, what doesn’t, and you’ll make the changes. But they have not made those changes, and in some cases they made things worse. So I wouldn’t encourage any state to adopt it in toto.”

“You wouldn’t recommend that any state adopt the plan that was adopted in Massachusetts in its entirety?”

“In its entirety, no,” Romney said.

Romney added that he believes some “principles” from his Massachusetts plan would benefit states, among them the creation of exchanges in which individuals would be able to buy health insurance with pre-tax dollars, just like people who are insured through their jobs do today. “For the long term for the country, its very wise for people to be able to own their own insurance,” Romney said, “as opposed to having it purchased for them by their employer.” Such exchanges could be entirely private, Romney added.

At least Romney’s consistent in one thing, you can bet he’ll change his mind sooner or later.


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