Three health care economists who helped develop and implement the Massachusetts health law crunched the numbers and came up with a surprising answer to the question of what’s the difference between “Obamacare” and “Romneycare”. A study released by Families USA, a non-profit group that openly supports the Affordable Care Act shows there really is no difference, said M.I.T. professor Jonathan Gruber. “Romneycare” was the plan then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed in 2006. "It's basically just the same law, just covering the whole nation," he said. And he would know. Gruber was among those to develop Romneycare in Massachusetts.
"Make no mistake here. The affordable care act was based on what we did in Massachusetts,” he said. “We shuttled back and forth between Washington and Boston. We were constantly asked, how can we make this like Massachusetts?” said Gruber.
But both Obamacare and Romneycare differ drastically from the plan pushed by Romney today. The study shows that plan would greatly boost the number of uninsured, and cut the number of people receiving tax subsidies. The study's authors admit, so far, the details of Romney's current plan are still pretty vague. Even still, they stand by their statistics.