Romney offers healthcare crisis prescription

By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff

Mitt Romney, rolling out his healthcare plan in Florida today, will call for a combination of federal tax breaks and incentives to states to help the uninsured afford coverage, while offering strategies to rein in health costs, such as capping punitive damages in malpractice cases.

Drawing on some aspects of the Massachusetts health reform law he helped enact as governor, Romney will urge states to redirect federal money that is now spent on expensive emergency room care for people without insurance, putting it instead towards helping low-income people pay for health insurance.

Sally Canfield, policy director for the campaign, said the plan would not require any new money. It relies entirely on reallocating existing federal spending on healthcare and creating a more vigorous market to drive down premium prices, she said.

"What we're trying to do is build on the Massachusetts example, and what worked here, and provide a way for states to have access to the same types of choices we have in Massachusetts," she said.

Romney's proposal would also make insurance premiums more affordable for individuals by making health costs tax-deductible once they enroll in a plan. The Massachusetts law created the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector partly to give individuals access to the same tax deductions available to businesses and other groups.

But unlike the Massachusetts law, Romney's proposal would not penalize anyone for failing to buy insurance, nor would it sanction businesses that do not provide it for their employees. Individual states could set such rules, but the federal government would stay out of such requirements.

In hopes of lowering healthcare costs, Romney would also provide federal incentives for states to deregulate their insurance markets -- encouraging them, for example, to get rid of laws that require insurers to pay for certain medical services, like in vitro fertilization.

He would also give states more flexibility in how they could use federal Medicaid dollars, making it easier for states to develop innovative programs -- such as one in Utah that helps people manage chronic illnesses, which keeps them healthier and reduces costs, the Romney campaign said.

The plan also includes a litany of proposals to help drive down health costs, including medical liability reform. And the plan would provide more information to consumers so they could shop for the best quality and prices.

Romney's speech today to the Florida Medical Association is designed to go beyond his standard stump speech on his healthcare policy in which he lauds the Massachusetts plan as a way to lower premiums and extend coverage to more people without too much government involvement. Some critics have said he has given short shrift or mischaracterized less appealing details of the Massachusetts law.