Romney can escape from his box only by finessing health care reform; this is a promising start

MITT ROMNEY’S latest position on the Massachusetts health care reform law is, finally, an honest one. “Overall, ours is a model that works,’’ the former Bay State governor and would-be presidential candidate said in Iowa.

But, as Romney also notes, it’s a work in progress and needs fiscal fine-tuning.

That’s different from demonizing it.

Tim Cahill, the Massachusetts state treasurer who is running for governor as an independent, made national headlines by proclaiming that health reform is bankrupting the state. This mantra was happily picked up by opponents of the recently enacted federal health care reform law, which used Massachusetts as a template.

Asked to respond to Cahill’s dire conclusion, Romney, via spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, replied, “It is irresponsible to say it is bankrupting the state, as Tim Cahill claims.’’

Romney, who has been for health care reform and against it, now appears to be for it, at least in its Massachusetts incarnation. There’s still a lot of contorting going on, as he embraces states’ rights and tries to finesse the controversial issue with his Republican base.

But at least he is also celebrating the core goal of universal health care — getting insurance coverage to virtually all Massachusetts citizens — which he helped the Bay State achieve. As he does, he points out a legitimate challenge: how to make sure it remains economically viable.

“I don’t pretend for a minute that our system is perfect,’’ he said recently. “I think it’s better than what we had, and I think people can learn from what we have done and I think there are changes I would make to it.’’