Ken Cuccinelli: I Don't See A Lot Of Distance' Between Romney, Obama Health Plans

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who hosted a Fox News forum with GOP presidential candidates Saturday night, said afterward that he was not convinced that Mitt Romney could differentiate his Massachusetts health care plan sufficiently from President Obama's.

Politico's David Catanese reports that in a post-event interview, Cuccinelli said, "I don't see a lot of distance there between him and the president" on the issue.

Romney, who was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, has long drawn scrutiny from Republicans for instituting a state health care law in 2006 that imposed an individual mandate very similar to the one found in President Obama's overhaul, which passed Congress in 2010.

Saturday's forum was no different. Romney fielded a question about how he would answer a charge from Obama that that president's plan was based on Romney's.

Bloomberg reports:

“I sure look forward to that” exchange, Romney, 64, said. “Do I like the bill overall? Yes. Am I proud of what we did for our state? Yes. But what the president has done is way beyond what we envisioned.”

Romney said while his measure only aimed to cover the 8 percent Massachusetts residents who lacked insurance, “Obamacare is about taking over 100 percent of the people’s insurance in this country.”

Romney's healthcare plan extended insurance coverage to 98 percent of Bay State residents.

 

 

Comments

[bd7769]

06:43 AM on 12/12/2011

There is a hugh difference between ACD and the MA healthcare plans. One was implemented by a state the other was implemented by the Federal Governement.

[Southernthinker]

08:59 AM on 12/06/2011

Romney, who was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, has long drawn scrutiny from Republicans for instituting a state health care law in 2006 that imposed an individual mandate very similar to the one found in President Obama's overhaul, which passed Congress in 2010.

The most perplexing thing about this healthcare control/mandate/unconstitutional right wing hate tactic is that none of these limited government, take personal responsibility, purveyors of “Obamaphobia” who want to repeal The Affordable Healthcare Act (“Obamacare” as they call it) while dissecting Medicare/Medicaid have indicated how they will address healthcare disparities and soaring costs (remember Tort Reform protects pharma and institutions not patients). Right wing social engineering (Newt's phrase) can be HARZARDOUS to your HEALTH.

Ms. Bachmann told Joe and Blondie (12/06 in the 8 a.m. segment) that she needed glasses… went to work at 12… taking personal responsibility and other insane info; be afraid, BE VERY AFRAID and prepare to send your vision impaired child to work for Newt and The Donald!

[Andythelawyer]

08:03 PM on 12/05/2011

He'd be happier in Kansas.

[Nolan Darch]

07:32 PM on 12/05/2011

Wow, who cares.

[BCinVA]

07:20 PM on 12/05/2011

A male Bachmann clone. Pay not attention to this man, at best it will make your head hurt.

[PanFx]

06:37 PM on 12/05/2011

"Romney said while his measure only aimed to cover the 8 percent Massachusetts residents who lacked insurance, “Obamacare is about taking over 100 percent of the people’s insurance in this country.”

This is why the Republicans are going to lose in 2012. This kind of willful ignorance is no longer being tolerated by the American people.

[Bon1042]

01:36 AM on 12/06/2011

Oh my god.... 100 % of the people being covered by health insurance??? What a shocking idea. What they are calling socialist communist government control was proposed by the Republicans a few yrs back.... that is.... a mandate... seen THEN as taking some measure of personal responsibility for your health care costs instead of hanging out in emergency rooms in a triage world of chaos.

FIX News and their followers would have apoplexy if they knew Franklin Delano Roosevelt got the idea for Social Security from Germany in the 1930's.

This is all very hysterical and my head IS starting to hurt !

[zenman2]

05:24 PM on 12/05/2011

Couci= head of the "crazies"

[mech126]

04:45 PM on 12/05/2011

Hey Cucci, we can't tell the difference between your brain and a small rock, does that help.....

[imfedup]

04:39 PM on 12/05/2011

“Obamacare is about taking over 100 percent of the people’s insurance in this country.”

What a load of hooey. Another bald-faced lie.

[EyeballKid]

09:31 AM on 12/06/2011

Frank Luntz's handiwork is everywhere. That Obama is "Taking over the country" is a variation on the same meme that Luntz is demanding that his clients repeat. Let's also remember that Luntz continues to work his magic on the GOP by forbidding that they use the word "capitalism" when referring to the OWS movement, since OWS is giving "capitalism" a bad name.

Let's make no mistake. Luntz is a neurolinguistic programmer. He knows how to manipulate the nervous systems of the GOP mob and the media consumers. He's no mere consultant or poll-taker. His knowledge base comes in part from Bandler and Grinder's "The Structure of Magic", a landmark two volume work that deconstructs the skill set of the late hypnotherapist Milton Erickson.

Luntz's adaptation is something that Erickson, Bandler and Grinder all warned against. They all told their readers and listeners that the skills Erickson developed, if gotten into the wrong hands, could easily violate ethical and moral standards by those willing to exploit people for power and/or profit. That's Luntz in a nutshell.

[imfedup]

03:25 PM on 12/06/2011

I agree. He's written a book about how to do what he does. It's a veiled message in the form of a business book, but I have read part of it, and he is indeed dangerous.

[imfedup]

04:38 PM on 12/05/2011

I don't find it curious at all. This is exactly the kind of thing someone says when he has another candidate in mind. So who does The Cooch like?

[JOEL1954]

03:27 PM on 12/05/2011

They need to take the profit out of healthcare and costs will plummet.. I really can't see why most Americans are against this.

[jwcmass]

03:51 PM on 12/05/2011

Joel, 

I AGREE with you. I have had a series of incapacitating chronic illnesses, and have gotten to know the system far more than I ever wanted to. 

Bu I agree that profit has no place in medical practice or in the field. I don't mind seeing a good doctor get paid, but I do have a problem with doctors or administrators of  "for-profit" hospitals solely focused on making money. I feel the same way about pharmaceutical companies and health care "insurance" companies. 

The political right in this country has a fetish about the free market, thinking it solves all problems.

But in the medical field, people do not think in the same way as when they are buying a house or a car, or other consumer items. 

For if the price of a car is too high, then they will either put off buying one, or will buy a different car instead. 

But if those same people have a child with life-threatening cancer, then they want the best treatment available, because unlike a car, there are no second-chances or "replacements" if the treatment fails. 

SO if a pharmaceutical wants to charge thousands of dollars in cancer medications (and I have seen medications that cost THOUSANDS of dollars -- I am not making that figure up), then people will do whatever they can to obtain life-saving medication. 

So the free-market model just does not work when it comes to health care. 

Further, I remember something one of my mother's doctors said many years ago. He taught medicine at Harvard, so the guy knew what he was talking about, and he used to say to his students, "If you are entering this field solely for the money, then go open an amusement park instead. There people have a choice as to whether to pay you or not. But when a PATIENT comes to you, they are doing so because they HAVE TO, and you should not be exploiting that need to raise the balance in your account." 

I have had my share of tangles with the medical system, and when I run into someone who is being difficult, and refers to me as a "consumer" or a "client" , I remind them that I am neither -- I am a PATIENT!! 

And that is the mindset which needs to change -- people are not in hospitals like they are in a Best Buy -- they are not there because of choice, but because of medical NEED. And they are PATIENTS who need care. 


So I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of patients would agree with you. 

Fanned and Faved.

[4RealMan]

04:07 PM on 12/05/2011

well said but you will never be able to to convince the foolish right including the very poor that votes against their economic interest.

[swimbiker]

05:35 PM on 12/05/2011

fanned for logic.

[4RealMan]

04:04 PM on 12/05/2011

most Americans watch Faux Entertainment News and are stupid. Healthcare and public education, including state universities, should be FREE in the US. We have waaaaay too much money for it not to be free.

[Countess]

02:32 PM on 12/05/2011

I don't see anything controversial about this statement which is an absolutely true comparison. The Obama health care reform was inspired by the right wing Heritage Foundation and Romney's plan which also came from the same source. It is a sad but true fact.

[Hooponopono]

06:37 PM on 12/05/2011

Well before Obamacare, Romneycare and the Heritage Foundation, the state of Hawaii implimented a remarkably similar version in 1974. It has been fantastic for us. We have greatly improved health, greatly improved health outcomes at greatly reduced costs. That is not a sad but true fact.

[Bat Wrangler]

02:26 PM on 12/05/2011

"Coo Coo" Cuccinelli also capitalized on his free publicity, by announcing just prior to hosting the Fox Forum, that he's running for governor of Virginia.

[pacigentri15]

02:22 PM on 12/05/2011

cucinelli is a real good puppet of the 1% like the rest of the republicans ultra millionaire lovers.

[runtwelds]

02:21 PM on 12/05/2011

He just lies and lies doesn't he? Romney fails to acknowledge that HCR will never, nor was it intended to, take over anyone's insurance and certainly not every man, woman, or child's.

If he is referring to a public option, then I would agree many progressives would like that as an alternative to high cost private insurance.

[jwcmass]

02:52 PM on 12/05/2011

Here in Massachusetts, there are MANY private health insurance companies, which cover most people. They are probably regulated more than in other states, but that is how most people get coverage.

The problem occurs when one gets a chronic or terminal illness, and needs treatment. If one cannot work, then one loses health care coverage. THAT is what the Mass. plan was trying to fill the gap. 

A great deal depends on your income. If your income is low enough, you qualify for MassHealth (which is what Mass. calls Medicaid.) 

If your income is high enough, then you are enrolled in a system. There are four private health insurance companies which you can choose from, so almost every doctor is covered by one of them.

What you pay in monthly premiums is dependent on your income. The same is true of co-payments. With meds, if you reach a certain threshold (in terms of how much you spend in co-payments in a year) then you pay zero in co-payments for the remainder of the year. 

It has taken a while to organize all this and actually implement it, but they are slowly getting the kinks out of the system. 

But we need to look at a larger issue. Mainly that we do not have enough Primary Care Physicians. Specialists  get paid MUCH more than a PCP, so we need to create incentives (perhaps one year of free medical school for those who elect to become a PCP) to attract more doctors to this area.

Another problem is that the pharmaceutical industry needs to be regulated. (The reason this was not attempted with Federal Health Care Reform is because Obama made the calculation that it would be too difficult to pass legislation if he tried to take on both health insurance companies AND big pharma. So he chose the former, and largely left reform of the pharmaceutical company alone.) 

Now nothing will be done if the Democrats fail to hold the Senate, and gain the House, or if a Republican is elected President. 

But what needs to be done is two major reforms. First, since the government (with Medicare) is by far the largest purchaser of medications, price limits MUST be set. (Lots of the basic research which leads to new medications is already funded by our tax dollars.) 

Second, we need to mandate that certain medicines which are not so profitable to the pharma industry are manufactured. Things like Flu vaccines, certain cancer drugs, and so on, (and there is a shortage of those now because many companies do not want to manufacture them.) 

That could lead (particularly if a flu vaccine isn't on the market) to a pandemic like the 1918 Influenza pandemic.

[swimbiker]

05:38 PM on 12/05/2011

I remember back when there was a proposal to have Medicare negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies and the GOP shot it down. Lately, there was a bill to allow Americans to import drugs from Canada---drugs made in the U.S. but sold in Canada--and the GOP shot it down.