ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Opposition to ObamaCare motivated millions of Americans to throw more than 60 Democrats out of Congress last November — largely because they had supported the despised health overhaul law.
Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell said voters saw the law’s passage as a “crime against Democracy” and they want it repealed.
A majority of Americans now oppose the new federal health law, and only 18 percent think it will actually help them, according to an October Kaiser public opinion survey. Voters are seething as they learn more about its harmful impact on health costs, jobs and the ballooning deficit.
RomneyCare is too similar to ObamaCare for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to escape this voter anger.
Jonathan Gruber, who advised Romney in passing his universal coverage law, confirms the federal health law “is essentially based on what we accomplished in Massachusetts. It's the same basic structure applied nationally.” President Obama also says Massachusetts was his model.
While Romney insists ObamaCare “is bad news” and must be repealed, even he gets confused about what he means. In the most recent Republican presidential debate, he said: “…we all agree about repeal and replace. And I’m proud of the fact that I’ve put together a plan that says what I’m going to replace it with.”
Does he really mean he sees Massachusetts as a model for his “replacement” plan even as he insists it’s not?
When challenged by his fellow candidates, the usually unflappable Romney stumbled. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum hit Romney over costs. “What you did is exactly what Barack Obama did: focused on the wrong problem ... You expanded the pool of insurance without controlling costs. You've blown a hole in the budget up there. And you authored in ObamaCare, which is going to blow a hole in the budget of this country.”
Romney admitted “I didn't get the job done in Massachusetts in getting the health care costs down, but added it’s "something I think we have got to do at the national level. I intend to do that.” But you “didn't do it” in Massachusetts, Santorum shot back.
Health costs in Massachusetts are higher than in any other state: Health spending is rising 15 percent faster than the national average. Economists from Stanford and Columbia universities have estimated that the state healthcare law was responsible for hiking premiums by as much as 6 percent.
But perhaps the biggest stumbling block for Romney is his support of the individual mandate.
Romney continues to back himself into a corner with his staunch defense of the hugely-unpopular and likely-unconstitutional insurance mandate. He says: “we dealt with a challenge that we had — a lot of people that were expecting government to pay their way. And we said, you know what? If people have the capacity to care for themselves and pay their own way, they should.”
So does he really support a mandate? It’s still not clear.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted Romney’s insistence that the plan he passed affected only the uninsured. Romney said: “Our bill dealt with eight percent of our population, the people who aren't insured and said to them, if you can pay, don't count on the government, take personal responsibility.”
But the mandate to purchase health insurance applies to everyone, not just the uninsured.
As proof, Gingrich cited a report about a couple in Massachusetts who spent $750 a month for health insurance but were being slapped with a $3,000 fine because their policy didn’t meet state requirements.
The state decides how much health insurance residents can afford “not, unfortunately, from your perspective but from the state agency’s view,” a government official told them.
RomneyCare remains Romney’s Achilles’ heel. Without a clearer position, he will have trouble convincing Republican voters he is serious about repeal and will have an even harder time mapping a clear plan on health reform should he be elected president.
