Rick Perry has already started citing the Beacon Hill Institute study that argues Romneycare cost Massachusetts 18,000 jobs. The Los Angeles Times reports on Perry’s stump speech in Iowa yesterday:
“It’s [Romneycare] cost taxpayers in Iowa and across this country nearly $4 billion in Medicaid and Medicare costs,” Perry told a few hundred party faithful at a roast-beef-and-mashed-potatoes dinner in Greene County.
“This isn’t just about the state of Massachusetts and the cost to them directly. It’s also costing you.” Perry, who did not take questions from reporters or the audience, cited a new study from the conservative Beacon Hill Institute that showed Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts had cost his home state 18,000 jobs.
The Romney campaign said in a statement yesterday that the study was “deeply flawed.” Paul Bachmann, the research director at the Beacon Hill Institute, told the Boston Herald that the study was “accurate” in response to the Romney campaign’s comments.