{mosads}Santorum hit Romney hard for the reforms he implemented as governor of Massachusetts, which are highly similar to the federal overhaul that Obama signed into law.
“It is an abject disaster,” Santorum said of Romney’s plan. “He is standing by it, and he’s going to have to run against a president who’s going to say, ‘Well, look at what you did for Massachusetts, and you’re the one criticizing me for what I’ve done? I used your model for it.’”
Romney defended his plan, saying it put people on private insurance, not government-run programs. Both Romney and Obama relied on a combination of private coverage and Medicaid. Santorum directly rejected Romney’s defense.
“You’re arguing for a plan, you’re defending a plan that is top-down,” Santorum said. “It is not a free-market health care system. It is not bottom-up. It is prescriptive in government, it was the basis for Obamacare, and you do not draw a distinction that’s going to be effective for us just because it was the state level not the federal level.”
Santorum also went after Gingrich for his support of an individual mandate — a core piece of Obama’s healthcare law that is now before the Supreme Court. Gingrich said it was “mildly amazing” to suggest that he wouldn’t be able to easily win a debate with Obama over healthcare, but again, Santorum pressed his attack.
“You can’t run rings around the fact, Newt, that you supported the primary, core basis of what President Obama put in place … You held that position for over 12 years,” Santorum charged.