Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Three years after running on the promise to partially repeal the Affordable Care Act, Mitt Romney finally admitted the truth: His own Massachusetts health-care law led directly to President Obama’s current law.
During the 2012 campaign, Romney was dogged by accusations from the right that “Romneycare”—a mandate-based law passed during his time as governor of Massachusetts—was the foundation for the Affordable Care Act.
At the center of Romneycare was an individual mandate for Massachusetts residents to purchase health insurance or face fines. While that is also a crux of the Affordable Care Act, the former Republican nominee has repeatedly dismissed the comparison by suggesting his law was never meant to be applied nationwide.
However, while memorializing the recently deceased Staples founder Tom Stemberg on Friday, Romney finally admitted the similiarities: “Without Tom pushing it, I don’t think we would have had Romneycare,” he confessed. “Without Romneycare, I don’t think we would have Obamacare. So, without Tom a lot of people wouldn’t have health insurance.”