Santorum: Romney's health law 'hasn't worked'

CNN's Kevin Liptak

(CNN) – Rick Santorum didn't hold back Thursday when describing the Massachusetts health plan put in place by Mitt Romney, saying the measure pushed through by the GOP presidential candidate left the Bay State with high costs and uninsured citizens.

"I think what you're seeing is it hasn't worked in Massachusetts," Santorum, who has endorsed Romney for president, said of the law on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."

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The former presidential candidate and former senator from Pennsylvania continued: "Health care costs in Massachusetts are number one in the country. They have a series of problems with people who decide to take the tax, in other words, pay the fine, instead of buying insurance, because it's cheaper. It doesn't work."

Santorum, who battled Romney for the GOP nomination in the winter and spring of 2012, used the Massachusetts health law frequently on the stump during the primary contests. In March, Santorum stood on the steps of the Supreme Court to blast Romney as the "worst candidate" to take on the president on health care.

Asked why Romney would make a good pick for president if his record on health care in Massachusetts was so dismal, Santorum said Thursday that Romney himself had acknowledged mistakes in the measure.

"What he said is they did some things right. They did some things wrong. He learned from those mistakes. I'm using his language," Santorum said.

Romney has said that there were things he would do differently on the Massachusetts health law if given the chance, though he still stands by the measure as necessary and successful in the Bay State.

"Overall, ours is a model that works," Romney said in March at an event in Iowa. "We solved our problem at the state level. Like it or not, it was a state solution."