October 11, 2012 11:51 PM UTC

EXCLUSIVE: Romney in 2011 on Health Care: "Maybe After Ten Years"

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• by: Colorado Pols

We were just forwarded a video clip of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaking informally at an Aurora bar last June. This video has never been seen publicly before, and it could shake up the national debate considerably over what Romney would do with health care policy as President–a debate driven by unanswered questions.

First of all, here’s what Romney is saying about health care today, via Bloomberg:

Mitt Romney vows he’ll extend health insurance to people with pre-existing medical conditions, a pledge that comes with few details and strings attached.

The Republican presidential nominee says he would shield workers with coverage from being dropped if they change jobs. Romney’s plan doesn’t explain what it would do for many others, such as those with ailments seeking health coverage for the first time…

“It’s a complete mystery what he’s talking about,” said Joe Antos, a health-care economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington policy group. “He’s clearly asserting that he’s got a new policy, but he hasn’t said what it is.”

Well, according to Romney himself in 2011, the “new policy” on health care is…wait ten years!

ROMNEY: We have to change our setting to get a more market-driven health care sector. And if we do that, I’m convinced that we’ll find ourselves bringing the cost of health care down. But that’s not going to happen, by me or anybody else putting in place a new federal program to take over health care. The right answer is to let states craft their own solutions, give them the freedom to do so, we’ll try different ideas in different states, and then, maybe after ten years, we’ll figure out which one’s working best. [Pols emphasis]

But the right answer is not Obamacare or a federal takeover…

So, those of you out there with pre-existing conditions who may have been reassured by Mitt Romney’s recent promises to make sure Americans with pre-existing conditions can get covered, please remember that according to this video clip of Romney speaking candidly right here in Colorado, he’s talking about a hypothetical situation ten years from now.

Depending on the seriousness of your pre-existing condition, you might well be dead by then.

But don’t you feel better now that you’ve finally been given a straight answer?