How about a RomneyCare waiver for me and my fellow Massachusetts residents?

(CNS News) — The United States has “taken a turn for the worse with ObamaCare,” says Republican Mitt Romney, who brought a similar health care system to Massachusetts.

“If I am elected president, I will issue on my first day in office an executive order paving the way for waivers from ObamaCare for all 50 states. Subsequently, I will call on Congress to fully repeal ObamaCare,” the former Massachusetts governor wrote in a USA Today op-ed published on Thursday.

The op-ed preceded a major campaign speech Romeny plans to deliver in Michigan on Thursday afternoon.

Like Obamacare, Romneycare — as critics dubbed his Massachusetts plan — requires individuals to purchase health insurance. Romney’s support for such an individual mandate is seen as a major obstacle to his anticipated run for president in 2012.

His Michigan speech is seen as an attempt to address the problem head-on, early in the campaign.