BREAKING NEWS

Santorum rips Romney on healthcare

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Republican Rick Santorum attacked presidential rival Mitt Romney on Thursday for creating "the template" for President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, spotlighting the issue ahead of crucial Supreme Court arguments on the law's constitutionality.
At a campaign stop in Texas, Santorum renewed his charge that Romney had compromised his ability to challenge Obama on the federal healthcare law by backing a similar plan when he was governor of Massachusetts that included a mandate requiring people to buy insurance.
"Romneycare is a government-run healthcare program, it's mandates, it's fines, it's insurance exchanges set up by the government," Santorum said during a speech at the San Antonio campus of the military-focused financial services and insurance company USAA.
"It's the template for Obamacare," Santorum said, using a term favored by Republicans to describe the federal healthcare law, Obama's signature policy achievement.