Romney Derides 'Hillarycare' Plan

Shortly before Senator Clinton was scheduled to officially unveil her national health care strategy, a Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, derided the plan, saying, "Hillarycare continues to be bad medicine."

Mrs. Clinton is expected today to call for an "individual mandate" that requires all Americans to buy health insurance, according to the Associated Press. The concept was pioneered at the state level in Massachusetts by Mr. Romney, the former governor.

However, unlike Mr. Romney's plan, Mrs. Clinton would steer many uninsured Americans into one of two government-run programs: Medicare and the health plan currently used by federal employees.

"She fundamentally does not believe in markets and does not believe in states," Mr. Romney said this morning, standing in front of Saint Vincent's Hospital.

"If you've seen the reports this morning on the latest version of Hillarycare, you'll see that version 2.0 is not likely to have any more success than 1.0," he said, taking a jab at Mrs. Clinton's failed attempt to reform the American healthcare system in the early 1990s.

Mr. Romney, who polls show is leading among Republicans in Iowa, is pushing a state-by-state approach to expanding access to health care. The plan would rely on private insurers to carry the bulk of uninsured Americans.