Romney discusses his state's overhaul at Republican event

Speaking at a "tea party" forum on Friday evening, former governor Mitt Romney, now a GOP presidential hopeful, offered "tepid" defenses of his state's health law and said that the Mass. overhaul was an "experiment" and some parts of it "didn't work."

The Wall Street Journal: Romney Addresses Health Care At GOP Forum
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a crowd of Republican activists here that if President Barack Obama meant to model the national health care overhaul on Mr. Romney's own health law in Massachusetts, he should have picked up the phone first. "Mr. President, why didn't you call and ask how it worked?" Mr. Romney said to a crowd of about 600. "Ours is an experiment. Some parts didn't work" (Yadron, 5/30).

The Hill: Romney On Health Care: Obama Should Have Asked Me If It Worked
Speaking before a crowd of conservative activists in New Hampshire Friday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney again faced questions about the health care plan he championed as Bay State governor. Romney called the Massachusetts law "an experiment," admitting that "some parts didn't work," but he didn't directly answer a question on whether or not he regretted signing it into law (D'Aprile, 4/29).

Los Angeles Times: Mitt Romney Defends His Massachusetts Health Care Plan At 'Tea Party' Forum
Addressing a "tea party" forum Friday night in the first primary state, Mitt Romney defended the health care plan he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts but said that some parts hadn't worked. ... Romney said there were "some things I'd change" about the Massachusetts program. He argued, as he has before, that states should be free to experiment with health care programs, but he opposes Obama's "one-size-fits-all" plan (West, 4/29).

The Boston Globe: Romney Stands By Bay State Health Law
Mitt Romney offered a tepid defense of the Massachusetts health care law, suggesting to an audience last night at the Granite State's first forum of the 2012 presidential campaign that he would sign it again if given the chance (Viser, 4/30).

In other, reform-related news -

Stateline: Interstate Compacts Offer New Weapon Against Health Care Plan
Governors who oppose the national health care act have no shortage of strategies they are willing to try — federal lawsuits aimed at overturning it, state statutes barring its implementation, an attempt at congressional repeal. But another way around the controversial law may be emerging that, while it sounds far-fetched, theoretically could trump all others: a so-called interstate health care compact that would invoke a little-known clause in the U.S. Constitution. Here's how it would work: At least two states would agree to sign a joint agreement taking full responsibility for all health care policy within their borders (Vestal, 4/30).