It’s time for Massachusetts to consider Medicare for all health care system
It’s time for Massachusetts to consider Medicare for all health care system, Sen. Jamie Eldridge says
[Ed.: NYPAN strongly supports passage of the NY Health Act]
by Katie Lannan
Pitching a bill that would move Massachusetts to a single-payer health care system, Sen. Jamie Eldridge reminded his colleagues of all the calls they got early in the COVID-19 pandemic from constituents needing help finding new health care coverage after they lost their job and the insurance that came with it.
“Think about all the inefficiencies in that. Think about the fears and concerns that so many of our constituents had when they were in transition, about what kind of health care they had,” he told the Health Care Financing Committee. “The Medicare for All bill is looking to move beyond that to say that health care should not be tied to your employer, should not be employer-based but it should be a right.”
Bills to establish a “Medicare for all” or government-based single payer health care system in Massachusetts have been filed for years on Beacon Hill, where they have been a focus of passionate advocacy but have met opposition from the insurance industry and not gathered the necessary momentum with key legislators.
Lora Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, said that 98 percent of Massachusetts residents have health insurance coverage, and the debate around single-payer “ignores our state’s near universal coverage achievements and distracts from the critical work we must do to control health care costs for employers and consumers.”
“Mandating a one-size-fits-all, government-run health care system will eliminate health care options for patients and will dramatically increase taxes on residents and businesses across the Commonwealth,” Pellegrini said.
Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa said the latest version of the bill has been updated as its supporters have followed the “ever-changing landscape” of health care.
“There’s a common misconception that this is a system that would revolutionize health care,” Sabadosa said. “What this bill does is it changes the payer, so in this bill we are not telling people who has to provide their health care, and in fact we explicitly state that any providers licensed to operate in Massachusetts could provide care and would be paid for by the trust rather than a health insurance company.”