Mitt Romney on Health Care

Through market reforms, as opposed government program or new taxes, Romney believes the health of our nation can be improved by extending health insurance to all Americans.

For Romney our health care problems lie largely with personal responsibility, insisting that individuals have responsibility for their own health care. Romney argues we can't have as a nation 40 million people saying, 'I don't have insurance, and if I get sick, I want someone else to pay."

As former governor of Massachusetts, Romney is considered by many a pioneer for his universal coverage plan, which greatly restructured the state’s health-care financing system. One element of the plan is subsidizing low-income families' purchase of private health insurance, instead of reimbursing hospitals for treating the uninsured. Another key element is the creation of an insurance exchange - a public bank that collects the premiums from individuals and passes them on to their chosen insurers-so individuals can buy health insurance with pretax dollars.