Romney remains target over health care credentials

Mitt Romney remains directly in the crosshairs of his GOP presidential rivals as Rick Santorum hits Romney on his health care credentials on the campaign trail. But, Santorum's presidential bid is itself finding some controversy for the candidates ties to hospital chain Universal Health Services, where he was once director.

The New York Times: Romney Faces Rebels On The Right And Softness In The Middle
Michael Biundo, Mr. Santorum's campaign manager, said it was time to highlight Mr. Romney's weaknesses with movement conservatives. He said Mr. Romney's record as the governor of Massachusetts -; particularly the health care program that is similar to the national plan signed into law by Mr. Obama -; would make him an imperfect Republican standard-bearer (Zeleny, 2/8).

Los Angeles Times: Republican Presidential Field Still Lacks A Unifier
Appearing early Wednesday on CNN, the former Pennsylvania senator pushed back against Romney's election night assertion that the Republican presidential contest amounts to a choice between a business-world outsider and a Washington insider. "Mr. Outsider was for a government takeover of health care, was for a government takeover of the private sector -; the Wall Street bailout -; and for a takeover of industry and energy with cap and trade," Santorum said. "So, Mr. Private Sector was Mr. Big Government" (Barabak, 2/8).

Boston Globe: Santorum's Bid Fueled By 2 Wealthy Contributors
The company whose employees gave the most money to Santorum's campaign - $19,500 – was the hospital chain Universal Health Services, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets blog. Santorum was a director of the organization, which Bloomberg reported was sued by the federal government in 2010 over allegations of Medicare fraud (Schoenberg, 2/9).