(CNN) – Rick Santorum didn't hold back Thursday when describing the Massachusetts health plan put in place by Mitt Romney, saying the measure pushed through by the GOP presidential candidate left the Bay State with high costs and uninsured citizens.
"I think what you're seeing is it hasn't worked in Massachusetts," Santorum, who has endorsed Romney for president, said of the law on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."
- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
The former presidential candidate and former senator from Pennsylvania continued: "Health care costs in Massachusetts are number one in the country. They have a series of problems with people who decide to take the tax, in other words, pay the fine, instead of buying insurance, because it's cheaper. It doesn't work."
Santorum, who battled Romney for the GOP nomination in the winter and spring of 2012, used the Massachusetts health law frequently on the stump during the primary contests. In March, Santorum stood on the steps of the Supreme Court to blast Romney as the "worst candidate" to take on the president on health care.
Asked why Romney would make a good pick for president if his record on health care in Massachusetts was so dismal, Santorum said Thursday that Romney himself had acknowledged mistakes in the measure.
"What he said is they did some things right. They did some things wrong. He learned from those mistakes. I'm using his language," Santorum said.
Romney has said that there were things he would do differently on the Massachusetts health law if given the chance, though he still stands by the measure as necessary and successful in the Bay State.
"Overall, ours is a model that works," Romney said in March at an event in Iowa. "We solved our problem at the state level. Like it or not, it was a state solution."
- Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.
Also see:
Obama campaign to opponents: Move past health care fight
Fund-raising flurry after Supreme Court ruling
Santorum and the other former GOP presidential candidates are doing gyrations trying to justify their support for their seriously flawed nominee. Reelect Obama!
Shaking the etch-a-sketch
yeah sure...now he wants to admit a mistake because he is running for president...how convenient
Oh Santorum, very few people care what you think!
"Overall, ours is a model that works," Romney said in March at an event in Iowa. "We solved our problem at the state level. Like it or not, it was a state solution."
Ok this does not sound like admitting a mistake...Mitt Romney aka "Flipper"...and if it worked on a state level than why not endorse it nationally...
Massachusetts topped the nation in 1991 too. Must be Romneycare!
Not even close to the truth.
The GOP knows how to find fault with the work of Obama and others. The problem is that they do not seem to have any ideas themselves. They want what they want (lower taxes) and they want it now. They don't care about others – or they would have proposed a health care reform plan of their own after defeating Hillary Clinton's plan.
I think the citizens of Massachusetts would beg to differ.
Pope Rick doesn't know what he is talking about in re to MA healthcare. It's worked out just fine for us. More than 98% of our residents have coverage receiving some of the best care in the country. He ought to get himself a job because he'll never be President. He stands a better chance of being Pope than being POTUS.