Santorum pens USA Today op-ed attempting to link Romney with federal health care law

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

GREEN BAY, Wis.—The day before Republican primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia, Rick Santorum published an op-ed in USA Today excoriating Mitt Romney for the connection between the Massachusetts health care law passed during his tenure and the federal health care law under review by the Supreme Court.

From the op-ed:

"ObamaCare — based on RomneyCare, the plan Massachusetts adopted when Mitt Romney was governor — tells insurance companies which benefits their policies must offer and what range of prices they could charge. It requires that individuals buy conforming policies, and cuts $500 billion from Medicare. The Independent Payment Advisory Board will limit what treatments doctors can prescribe."

The article, which outlines Santorum's plan to promote individual savings accounts and state-run high risk pools, is part of a renewed focus on hitting Romney over government regulation of the health insurance industry. At almost every stop along the campaign trail, Santorum has called Romney "uniquely unqualified" to debate President Barack Obama on the issue.

Santorum also made a stop at the Supreme Court last week while the justices heard oral arguments challenging the federal law, which Santorum calls "ObamaRomneyCare." His campaign released an ad on health care Monday morning that shows Obama's face transforming into Romney's.

In response, Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul called Santorum's efforts "desperate."

"Rick Santorum is attacking pollsters, attacking reporters and attacking Mitt Romney. It is sad to see him completely lose his bearings and revert to patently false claims," Saul said. "Senator Santorum is at a point of desperation that he will say or do anything. It is pretty clear that he is lashing out at everyone around him in order to prop up his sinking campaign."

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