Romney Visiting San Diego Monday Morning

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is expected to speak in San Diego today on the effects of the national health care law championed by President Barack Obama on the medical device community.

The speech at NuVasive, a maker of devices intended to improve spinal care, coincides with the start of oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of what is officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and what has been dubbed by opponents as “Obamacare.”

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who has a home in La Jolla, has said that if elected president he would issue an executive order on his first day in office that paves the way for the federal government to issue waivers on the law's provisions to all 50 states, then will work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible.

“Health care is more than just one-sixth of the American economy. It is a source of well-being for individuals and families,” Romney wrote in USA Today on May 11. “We are blessed with much that is good in American health care. But we have taken a turn for the worse with ‘Obamacare,’ with its high taxes and vastly expanded federal control over our lives. I believe the better course is to empower the states to determine their own health care futures.”

Romney has said he supports allowing states to regulate local insurance markets and care for the poor, uninsured and chronically ill; promoting free markets and fair competition and empowering consumer choice, including ending tax discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance; allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines; and promoting alternatives to fee for service.

Obama marked Friday's second anniversary of his signing the bill into law by saying that “two years after we passed health care reform, more young adults have insurance, more seniors are saving money on their prescription drugs and more Americans can rest easy knowing that they won't be dropped from their insurance plan if they get sick.

“The law has made a difference for millions of Americans and over time, it will help give even more working and middle-class families the security they deserve.”

Romney is also scheduled to attend fundraisers in San Diego and Redwood City on Monday. On Tuesday, he is due to attend fundraisers in Stockton, Irvine and Los Angeles and appear on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

–City News Service