I’m guessing this is hardly a headline that the Mitt Romney camp will like: “Experts: Romney, Clinton Health Care Plans Similar.”

As it happens, the Reuters story is not comparing the new ClintonCare to the free-market reform plan that Romney the presidential candidate is touting, but instead argues that Clinton borrowed elements from the flawed state plan that Romney signed into law as governor of Massachusetts:

“Hillary’s plan is just like the Massachusetts plan. There’s not a whole lot of difference,” said Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor who was an adviser to Romney on the state’s health care reform law.
Like Clinton’s plan, the law Romney signed in April 2006 is underpinned by an “individual mandate” compelling people to buy health insurance. Both plans entail subsidies and government regulations. For those in Massachusetts earning less than the federal poverty level of $9,800, free coverage is provided.

It’s true that Romney has, thank goodness, recognized some of the biggest problems in the Massachusetts plan and vows not to replicate them on a national level. His current health care reform approach is excellent. But because some of the rationale for his candidacy comes from citing a successful reform of bipartisan governance in Boston, you can’t really call this an unfair hit.