Romney Points To Mass. Law To Defend Positions On Women’s Health Issues

Topics: Health Costs, Politics, Health Reform, States

Aug 27, 2012

On the eve of the Republican convention, GOP presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney embraced the health law he signed while governor of Massachusetts as evidence that he would protect women’s access to health care.

Politico: Romney Touts His Health Care Plan
On the eve of the Republican convention in Tampa, Fla., Mitt Romney abruptly embraced his Massachusetts health care law in response to President Barack Obama’s attacks that Republicans have declared a “war on women” (Gibson and Samuelsohn, 8/26).

National Journal: Romney Says He’s Proud Of Mass. Health Care Law
Mitt Romney said he is “proud” of the health care plan he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts, and cited it as evidence that would protect women’s health as President in an interview on Fox News Sunday. “I’m the guy who was able to get health care for all the women and men in my state,” Romney said, adding that he, “did it without cutting Medicare and without raising taxes” (Mazmanian, 8/26).

The Hill (Video): Romney Cites Mass. Law To Defend Stance On Women’s Health Issues
Mitt Romney rebuffed Democratic suggestions that the GOP ticket was weak on women’s health issues by touting his Massachusetts healthcare reforms, in an interview with Fox News. In an interview taped last week and aired on Fox News Sunday, Romney was asked by host Chris Wallace how he answered “the Obama charge that they offer more support, more choice to women when it comes to abortion, rape, or birth control or women’s health.” “In regards to women’s healthcare, look I’m the guy who was able to get healthcare for all the women and men in my state,” said Romney (Mali, 8/26).

CNN: Romney Says He’s ‘Very Proud’ Of Mass. Health Care Law
Romney pointed to the health care law after being asked about Democratic-led attacks that accuse the GOP of launching a so-called war on women. “Look, I’m the guy that was able to get health care for all of the women and men in my state,” Romney said on Fox News. “They’re just talking about it at the federal level. We actually did something, and we did it without cutting Medicare and without raising taxes.” Romney rarely brings up the Bay State health care plan, given that it served in part as a blueprint for President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care reform, which Romney now says he would work to repeal (Killough, 8/26).

CBS: Romney: Mass. Health Reform Helped Women Without Cutting Medicare
Mitt Romney on Sunday pointed to the health care reforms he implemented in Massachusetts as proof that his policies would benefit women, even as he blasted President Obama’s federal health care reforms. The difference between the two plans, Romney said, was that his Massachusetts reforms protected Medicare, the popular government health care program for seniors. “With regards to women’s health care, look, I’m the guy that was able to get health care for all of the women and men in my state,” Romney said on Fox News Sunday (Condon, 8/26).

Meanwhile, Politico offered a hard look at a similarity between the Massachusetts health reforms measure and the 2010 health law –

Politico: Mitt Romney’s Law Has An ‘Unelected Board’ Too
Mitt Romney is on the warpath against President Barack Obama’s “unelected board” of health care bureaucrats — but his own Massachusetts health care law has been blasted more than a few times for the same reason. It’s another reminder that, as much as Romney is trying to campaign against “Obamacare,” there’s almost always some similarity in “Romneycare” that can come back to bite him (Cheney, 8/24).

This is part of Kaiser Health News‘ Daily Report – a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day’s news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.

Romney (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)

Scalia Renews Criticism Of Roberts’ Health Law Ruling But Denies Infighting

Topics: Supreme Court, Health Reform

Jul 29, 2012

USA Today: Scalia Disputes Talk Of Supreme Court Infighting
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is dismissing reports of infighting among court conservatives regarding the health care decision. Appearing today on Fox News Sunday, Scalia also said he did not know if Chief Justice John Roberts changed his mind about the heath care law and decided to provide the key vote to uphold it. “You’ll have to ask him,” Scalia said (Jackson, 7/29).

The Hill: Scalia: Future Cases Could Establish New ‘Limitations’ On Guns
In the wide-ranging interview, Scalia defended his view that “there’s simply no way to interpret” the individual mandate at the center of the 2010 healthcare law as a tax – the finding by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. that prevented the law from being overturned. “You don’t interpret a penalty to be a pig. It can’t be a pig,” Scalia said of the ruling. “You cannot give the text a meaning it will not bear” (Berman, 7/29).

Politico: Scalia On Obama: ‘What Can He Do To Me?’
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Sunday said he did not “view it as a threat” when President Barack Obama in April predicted his signature healthcare overhaul “will be upheld because it should be upheld” and that anything less would constitute “judicial activism” by the high court. Scalia conceded in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” that Obama’s forceful comments on a pending Supreme Court case were “unusual, but as I say I don’t criticize the president publicly. And he normally doesn’t criticize me.” But when host Chris Wallace pressed, asking whether Scalia, who in June sided with a minority seeking to overturn the law, felt “any pressure as a result of that to vote a certain way,” Scalia laughed. “No. What can he do to me? Or to any of us?” the justice responded (Vogel, 7/29).

Meanwhile, in another Sunday interview show-

The Hill: Sen. Durbin Optimistic Lawmakers Can Avert Impending Sequester Cuts
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday he expects lawmakers to reach a deal after the election that would fix the agreed-on sequester which will automatically cut $109 billion from defense and discretionary spending next year and over $1 trillion the next 10 years, including $500 billion from defense (Needham, 7/29).

This is part of Kaiser Health News‘ Daily Report – a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day’s news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.