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Obama: Repealing healthcare reform costly

President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on June 28, 2012, after the Supreme Court ruled on his healthcare legislation. UPI/Luke Sharrett/pool
President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on June 28, 2012, after the Supreme Court ruled on his healthcare legislation. UPI/Luke Sharrett/pool | License Photo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 19 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday told a Jacksonville, Fla., audience Mitt Romney's plans to roll back healthcare reform will cost them big time.

In the first day of a two-day campaign swing, Obama talked up differences between himself and his presumptive Republican challenger, especially in the healthcare arena.

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"He plans to roll back healthcare reform, forcing more than 200,000 Floridians to pay more for their prescription drugs," Obama said. "He plans to turn Medicare into a voucher program.

"So if that voucher isn't worth enough to buy the health insurance that's on the market, you're out of luck. You're on your own. One independent non-partisan study found that seniors would have to pay nearly $6,400 more for Medicare than they do today.

"Now, Florida, that's the wrong way to go. It's wrong to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare just so millionaires and billionaires can pay less in taxes. That's not the way to reduce the deficit. We shouldn't be squeezing more money out of seniors who are just barely getting by right now."

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Earlier en route to Florida, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said with 3.4 million people in Florida depending on Medicare, the state presents the perfect opportunity to educate people about healthcare reform.

"If you're in the doughnut hole, this could impact you if President Obama isn't elected and Mitt Romney is allowed to end the Affordable Care Act," she said.

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