PolitiFact: Romney Didn't 'Socialize' Medicine

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is not quite the “socialist” Rep. Michele Bachmann described him as Saturday night at the GOP debate in Iowa.

"If you look at Mitt Romney as the governor of Massachusetts, he's the only governor that put into place socialized medicine," she said.

But Romney didn’t put into place a socialized medicine program when he launched the now much-criticized health plan that some observers cite as a model for Obamacare, according to PolitiFact, the online site that investigates candidates’ claims.

PolitiFact noted that Romney left in place employer-provided insurance – a key point.

Socialized medicine “describes some health systems in place in the United States, such as those for veterans and active-duty military,” PolitiFact concluded Sunday. “But changes to Massachusetts health care under Romney don't begin to approach government-paid and government-provided care.

“The Massachusetts plan relies, in fact, on the same private employer-based health insurance system most Americans are familiar with. That's so different from ‘socialized medicine’ — practically the other end of the public-private spectrum — that Bachmann's use of the label is, frankly, ridiculous.”

They rated Bachmann’s contention with their worst ranking: “pants on fire.”