Records as Gov. Show Health Care Views of GOP Candidates
All three GOP presidential candidates who are current or former governors have promised to repeal the federal health reform law, but they have had divergent views on health policy. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has struggled to defend the state's health reform law he enacted while condemning the federal overhaul, which many say was modeled after the Massachusetts law. Catherine Frazier, a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said Perry "looks to free-market solutions" and "believes that expanding government-sponsored insurance is not the answer." Meanwhile, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has remained quiet about his former support of an insurance mandate, which was included in a 2008 state law to reduce the number of uninsured state residents.
- "G.O.P. Candidates' Stances on Health Care Mask Their Records as Governors" (Sack, New York Times, 9/3).
- "Mitt Romney Calls His Health Care Law an Asset Against Obama" (Page, "On Politics," USA Today, 9/5).