Mitt Romney responded moments ago to the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding President Obama’s healthcare law, calling, as he has before, for the law to be replaced.
“I will act to repeal Obamacare,” Romney declared, adding that though the court had declared the law constitutional, “what they did not do is say that Obamacare is good law or that it’s good policy.”
Romney charged that the law raises taxes by $500 billion, cuts Medicare by roughly the same amount, adds “trillions” to the deficit. He added that it would force up to 20 million Americans to lose insurance they want to keep, and called it a “job-killer.”
In fact, as msnbc’s Ed Schultz pointed out after Romney spoke, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the law will bring down costs. And there’s little hard evidence that it will cost jobs, or has done so. Nor is it clear how Americans who want to keep their insurance will be unable to do so.
Romney laid out the principles he thinks should replace the law, saying that Americans with pre-existing conditions should be protected.
“Gotta make sure that those people who have pre-existing conditions know that they will be insured,” he said, in what might be seen as an attempt to tread a more moderate path on the issue than others in his party. But Romney’s camapign has already made clear that he doesn’t intend to require insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions, so it’s not clear what today’s comment means. Romney said that by electing him this November, voters will be choosing to “return to a time when the American people will have their own choice in healthcare.” Later Thursday, Romney’s campaign sent out a fundraising pitch in response to the court’s ruling.
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