Romney slams Obama over health care reform glitches

Washington • Emerging from private life, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday sharply criticized President Barack Obama for not learning from Massachusetts' health care reform that Romney pushed through as governor.

Romney, who has been largely silent on Obama since losing the White House race, issued a release ahead of the president's visit to Boston to talk about the Affordable Care Act, which has faced massive glitches as Americans looked to sign up for insurance.

"In the years since the Massachusetts health care law went into effect nothing has changed my view that a plan crafted to fit the unique circumstances of a single state should not be grafted onto the entire country," Romney said.

"Beyond that, had President Obama actually learned the lessons of Massachusetts health care, millions of Americans would not lose the insurance they were promised they could keep, millions more would not see their premiums skyrocket, and the installation of the program would not have been a frustrating embarrassment."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius testified before Congress on Wednesday — even as the Obamacare website was down — and apologized for what she called a "debacle" with the roll out.

Romney, who was governor of Massachusetts from 2002-2006 and led the charge to pass health care reform often called Romneycare, said a state-based approach would have been the best way to help Americans find insurance and lower costs.

"Health reform is best crafted by states with bipartisan support and input from its employers, as we did, without raising taxes, and by carefully phasing it in to avoid the type of disruptions we are seeing nationally," Romney said.