Obama, Romney bring health policy resumes to the presidential race

But swing state voters continue to be skeptical of the two candidates' positions and plans. The Los Angeles Times reports how Ohio voters are critical of President Barack Obama's healthcare law because they see their healthcare costs continuing to rise and also skeptical that a man as rich as Mitt Romney could understand their needs.

Medpage Today: Candidates Made Health Marks In Their States
Long before they ever got to Washington or started campaigning for the White House, President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney left their healthcare fingerprints on their home states. As an Illinois state senator, Obama championed several principles that later became part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) he would sign as president. Meanwhile, Romney signed universal health coverage into law while serving as Massachusetts governor. Obama served as chair of the Illinois Senate Health and Human Services Committee in 2003 and 2004, the last two years of the eight he spent in the state legislature before being elected to the U.S. Senate (Pittman, 10/23).

Los Angeles Times: Voters In Ohio Village Skeptical Of Both Obama And Romney
The hardworking people in struggling Wintersville, Ohio, are among the most coveted voters in the nation. But neither campaign has managed to capture their trust – much less their enthusiasm. … Politicians of both parties use Social Security and Medicare to scare voters. They are critical of President Obama's healthcare law, not because of high-minded debates about whether it violates the Constitution, but because they see their healthcare costs continuing to skyrocket in spite of it. They are skeptical of how a man as rich as Mitt Romney could ever understand their needs (Mehta, 10/23).

CQ HealthBeat: Romney Reiterates Pledge To Repeal Health Care Law 'From Day One'
In a debate centered on foreign policy, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney repeated on Monday his pledge to repeal the president's 2010 health care overhaul law, saying that move would help balance the budget. Asked about how he would pay for a bigger military, Romney said he would reduce the discretionary budget, except defense spending, by 5 percent. In addition, he said, he would repeal the health care law, saying it "doesn't sound good and it's not affordable" (Ethridge, 10/23).

Politico: Debate Brings Attention To States' Medicaid Plans
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pushed for Medicaid block grants that would significantly cut program spending and provide states with the ultimate flexibility to design the health care program without Washington meddling. But the two examples of state Medicaid programs he cited as success stories during Monday's debate don't quite fit the mold of traditional block grants -; at least not the kind that Republicans have been clamoring for (Millman, 10/24).

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The Hill: Cantor: Obama Health Care Policies Threaten Rule Of Law
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) charged Tuesday that President Obama is autocratic and arbitrary when it comes to healthcare policy. The complaint came as part of a longer report, "The Imperial Presidency," in which Cantor argued that Obama has an undemocratic tendency that threatens the rule of law. "While administrations of both political parties have been known to test the bounds of the limits of their power, the breadth of the breakdown in the rule of law in recent years has reached new levels," Cantor wrote (Viebeck, 10/23).