Mitt Romney May 12, 2011 Speech Repeal and Replace Obamacare

FACT SHEET from Romney for President Exploratory Committee [PPT | Reactions]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Ryan Williams
May 12, 2011

REPEAL OBAMACARE, REFORM HEALTHCARE
Gov. Mitt Romney Lays Out The Right Path Forward

ANN ARBOR, MI – Today at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Mitt Romney called for the repeal of Obamacare and proposed a series of health care reforms to lower costs and empower states to craft their own health care solutions.

Romney said that upon taking office, he would issue an Executive Order paving the way for Obamacare waivers for all 50 states and begin the process of fully repealing the legislation. Romney also spelled out steps he would take to reform health care by giving the states incentives to make market-based reforms:

Restore State Leadership
Restore to the states the responsibility and resources to care for their poor, uninsured, and chronically ill:

Block grant Medicaid and other payments to states
Limit federal standards
States will experiment and learn from one another
Flexibility to deal with uninsured: e.g., charity, exchanges, subsidy for private coverage
Flexibility to deal with chronically ill: e.g., high-risk pools, reinsurance, risk adjustment

Empower Individual Ownership
Give a tax deduction to those who buy their own health insurance, just like those who buy it through their employers:

End tax discrimination
Greater consumer choice—can buy what you want, not only what your employer wants
Promote portability
Help control health care costs

Focus Federal Regulation
Focus federal regulation of health care on making markets work:

Correct common failures in the insurance market

Ensure that individuals with pre-existing conditions who are continuously covered for a specified period may not be denied coverage
Empower individuals and small businesses to form purchasing pools

Eliminate counterproductive federal constraints

Remove barriers to the sale of insurance across state lines
Allow providers to design plans that meet consumer needs

Reform Medical Liability
Reduce the influence of lawsuits on medical practice and costs:

Cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits
Innovation grants for state reforms: health courts, alternative dispute resolution, etc.

Introduce Market Forces
Make health care more like a consumer market and less like a government program:

Unshackle HSAs—e.g., permit HSA funds to be used to pay insurance premiums
Promote “co-insurance” products
Encourage “Consumer Reports”-type rating of alternative insurance plans
Facilitate IT interoperability
Promote alternatives to “fee for service”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Ryan Williams
May 10, 2011

Mitt Romney to Lay Out Plan to Repeal and Replace Obamacare
Reforms to Empower States and Reduce Healthcare Costs

BOSTON, MA -- The Romney for President Exploratory Committee today announced that Mitt Romney will present his plan to repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that lower costs and empower states to craft their own health care solutions.

Date:                           Thursday, May 12, 2011

Time:                          2:00 PM EDT

Participants:             Mitt Romney

Location:                    University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center
Danto Auditorium
1500 E. Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5852
*Parking available at the corner of Main St. and Keech St., shuttle will be provided

Mitt Romney’s 2012 Principles for Healthcare Reform:

·        Restore to the states the responsibility and resources to care for their poor, uninsured, and chronically ill.
·        Give a tax deduction to those who buy their own health insurance, just like those who buy it through their employers.
·        Streamline the federal regulation of healthcare.
·        Reduce the influence of lawsuits on medical practice and costs.
·        Make healthcare more like a consumer market and less like a government program.

Ed. Note: Romney addressed health care briefly in his speech at Carroll County Lincoln Day Dinner in Bartlett, NH on March 5, 2011:

...At every turn, he and his fellow liberals sought to seize more power for Washington. And in that cause, nothing was more misguided and egregious than Obamacare!

Living in New Hampshire, you’ve heard of our healthcare program next door in Massachusetts. You may have noticed that the President and his people spend more time talking about me and Massachusetts healthcare than Entertainment Tonight spends talking about Charlie Sheen.

Our approach was a state plan intended to address problems that were in many ways unique to Massachusetts. What we did was what the Constitution intended for states to do—we were one of the laboratories of democracy.

Our experiment wasn’t perfect—some things worked, some didn’t, and some things I’d change. One thing I would never do is to usurp the constitutional power of states with a one-size-fits-all federal takeover.

I would repeal Obamacare, if I were ever in a position to do so. My experience has taught me that states are where healthcare programs for the uninsured should be crafted, just as the Constitution provides. Obamacare is bad law, bad policy, and it is bad for America’s families.

The federal government isn’t the answer for running healthcare any more than it’s the answer for running Amtrak or the Post Office. An economy run by the federal government doesn’t work for Europe and it won’t work here.