Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul agrees with rival Rick Santorum’s suggestion that Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich support the concept of Obamacare.
However, according to Mr. Paul’s campaign team, the former Pennsylvania senator also supported an individual mandate for healthcare as well. During the Republican presidential candidate debate on CNN Thursday night, Mr. Santorum stated that Romneycare is the same as Obamacare, and that Mr. Gingrich has supported an individual healthcare mandate for 20 years.
“Governor Romney was the author of Romneycare, which is a top- down government-run health care system which, read an article today, has 15 different items directly in common with Obamacare,” said Mr. Santorum.
The former Pennsylvania senator then went on to talk about Mr. Gingrich and the health care policies that he supported while he served in Congress in the 1980s and 90s.
“Congressman Gingrich for 20 years advocated, that the federal government can force each and every person to enter into a private contract. Something that everyone now, at least up on this stage, says is radically unconstitutional, Congressman Gingrich supported for 20 years,” said Mr. Santorum.
Mr. Gingrich then responded by trying to separate himself and Mr. Romney regarding what health care policies they support.
Mr. Paul had preceded the discussion between his three rivals by talking about how the government involvement in the healthcare system since 1965 is what originally drove the costs up and made it difficult for Americans to find affordable healthcare.
It seemed as though Mr. Paul and Mr. Santorum held similar beliefs in contrast to Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich, until Mr. Paul’s campaign team pointed out something from Mr. Santorum’s political past.
On Thursday the Texas lawmaker’s campaign staff posted a 1994 article from Pennsylvania’s The Morning Call newspaper to his campaign website. The article states that during the 1994 U.S. Senate election for Pennsylvania, Mr. Santorum and his competitor Joe Watkins both supported an individual mandate for healthcare.
The article specifically states the following:
“Santorum and Watkins would require individuals to buy health insurance rather than forcing employers to pay for employee benefits.”
Mr. Paul’s campaign team posted the article to his campaign website and to his Twitter account, during the debate right after Mr. Santorum accused Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich of supporting the core principles of Obamacare.
The Texas congressman has consistently stated that his career experience in the medical profession gives him the credibility for presenting the best health care reform plan. He is proposing tax credits for medical expenses, Medicare and Medicaid reform, and the elimination of federal tracking of individual citizen’s medical histories among other reforms.
The most recent polls of likely Florida Republican primary voters project Mr. Paul finishing fourth in the upcoming Florida Republican primary election. The Texas Republican has skipped campaigning in the Sunshine state to focus on the upcoming caucuses in Nevada and Minnesota.
Mr. Santorum has not responded to Mr. Paul’s claims that he supported an individual health care mandate in 1994.
