Romer: Healthcare reform a responsible act

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Tackling U.S. healthcare reform during fiscal hard times is not irresponsible, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said Wednesday.

"Some have argued that it is irresponsible to reform our healthcare system at a time when the budget deficit is so large and our long-run fiscal problems are so severe," Romer said Wednesday in an address before the Center for American Progress in Washington. "I firmly believe the opposite: It is fiscally irresponsible not to do healthcare reform."

While some people argue that healthcare reform should be tackled either before or after taking on the deficit, Romer said she considered it "the most significant act we could take to tackle the deficit.

"Putting in place healthcare reform that genuinely slows the growth rate of costs is truly one of the largest and most important fiscal reforms we can undertake," she said.

Done properly, healthcare reform can slow the growth rate of healthcare costs and put the country "on a path to greatly reduced budget deficits in the long run," Romer said.