August 24, 2007

The Wall Street Journal reports that Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and current Republican presidential candidate, will lay out his vision for national health care reform today in a speech before the Florida Medical Association.

Romney's plan is expected to pursue deregulation and tax reform, rather than the insurance mandate program that he helped to enact while governor:

Mr. Romney plans to focus on tax breaks and streamlining regulations, policies his advisers say would essentially create a new, freer market for health insurance, driving down costs and providing incentives for individuals to buy their own plans. It is an approach President Bush and many Republican economists have embraced.

In today's speech, Mr. Romney will nod to his 2006 success in the Northeastern Democratic stronghold, aides say. But he will also aim to reassure conservatives by saying that a "one size fits all" solution isn't right for the 50 states. As for why he would use a different philosophy as president than as governor, they say he would have greater powers in the White House. "Massachusetts didn't have the federal tax code to play with," said Glenn Hubbard, a former Bush administration chief economist, now advising the Romney campaign.

The New York Times also offers its own description of the plan.

You can find more information on Hubbard's views on health care reform here: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System.

The Council for Affordable Health Insurance has also (just this month) released a helpful primer on all the candidates health reforms plans, at least as they are known today.

We'll return to this topic in future posts, as more details become available.

Posted by Paul Howard at August 24, 2007 10:44 AM

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