Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will attempt to repeal the health care reform law if he is elected president, but the law may be changed in some significant ways even if President Obama is re-elected, a former GOP congressional aide said Oct. 4.

 

 Dean Rosen, who was an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), said at an event sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund that the “bumpiness” involved in implementing the Affordable Care Act could prompt Obama, for example, to provide more time to states struggling to craft health insurance exchanges called for under the law.

 

Rosen said other provisions in the law, such as a tax on medical device makers, may also be targeted for repeal because of growing bipartisan opposition.

 

He said changes also could be made to the law as a result of a broader debate in Congress on tax and spending policy expected in 2013. Rosen said the law embodies numerous reform elements that in the past were championed by Republicans, but he said he is not sure its spending will be sustainable in the long term.