Mitt Romney Says No More Free Rides On Your Health Insurance

Mitt Romney gave a speech before the Florida Medical Association today and outlined his health care proposal. His health care policy would allow each state to dictate their own type of health care coverage. His campaign is calling it a “federalist approach” to health care. “A one-size-fits-all national health care system is bound to fail. It ignores the sharp difference between states and it relies on Washington bureaucracy to manage,” Romney said. “I don’t want the people who ran the Katrina cleanup to manage our health care system.” This new federal approach differs from his successful universal health care plan that he helped bring about in Massachusetts. Romney wants the government to help each state lower premiums by deregulating their insurance industries, and he says we can save more money by capping malpractice damages and making sure everyone is insured. “The problem of the uninsured is a problem for all Americans,” he said, because the insured ultimately pay for the uninsured now. So instead of giving money to the hospitals to help pay for the uninsured, Romney suggest we use it to help the poor buy affordable insurance on the open market. “No more free rides,” he said. “Everybody pays what they can afford.”
John Edwards wasted no time in bashing Romney’s health care proposal. “Mitt Romney’s cure is worse than the disease,” Edwards said in a statement. “Not surprisingly, he’s unwilling to take on the big insurance and drug companies. As a result, it will make a dysfunctional health care system even worse.” Then Edwards asked, “If universal health care was good enough for Massachusetts, why isn’t it good enough for the rest of the country?”
Here is the powerpoint presentation that Mitt Romney gave today before the Florida Medical Association, and here is a Policy Briefing detailing Romney’s plan to improve the health care system.

Alan Cosgrove