Romney's Health Care Administrator Moves to ObamaCare
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has tried to distance his state health care reforms from President Obama's recently-enacted national reforms, but his case may be a bit harder to make now.
Jon Kingsdale was appointed by Romney in 2006 to run the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, which operates the state exchange that serves as a health insurance marketplace for Massachusetts citizens. Kingsdale announced Thursday that he is stepping down from that position to pursue opportunities in implementing the national reforms, according to reports.
The national health care legislation requires all states to establish exchanges like the one in Massachusetts. And like the Massachusetts plan, the new law requires everyone to purchase health insurance either through the exchanges or by some other means.
"We should all feel very proud of having created the model for national health reform," Kingsdale wrote in his resignation letter, the Washington Post reports. "The power of the Bay State's example is enormously consequential. I believe that national reform would not have happened without it."
Romney, a former GOP presidential contender and possible 2012 candidate, has insisted his plan is different from Mr. Obama's, mainly because the Massachusetts plan was state-based. He has even called the implementation of the individual mandate, found in both plans, possibly unconstitutional at the federal level.
Nevertheless, the White House has called the Massachusetts plan "the template for what we're trying to do here." Romney also came under fire during the debate over abortion language in the national health care bill because his plan allowed government-subsidized insurance packages to cover abortion, as mandated by state law.
If Romney were to win the GOP nomination for the presidency in 2012, it would be nearly impossible for him to criticize Mr. Obama for health care reform now that Kingsdale is transitioning to federal work, contends Philip Klein at the conservative American Spectator.
"Imagine a debate in which Romney tries to attack the national health care law," he wrote. "Obama could respond, 'Not only are the two plans quite similar, but I appointed the same man who Romney himself appointed to run the health care program he created in Massachusetts.'"
Romney's presidential ambitions could also sabotage the GOP's health care repeal efforts, Klein writes.
