HEALTH CARE

Comprehensive health care is a right. While Massachusetts has made strides in expanding access and now has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country, we have the second highest health care costs of any state — more than $10,000 per person. The coverage we have covers less and less. As a result, 17% of residents have an unmet medical need because they can’t afford care, and a similar percentage is struggling to pay off medical debt for the care they did receive.

The rapidly rising cost of health care is consuming the state budget, reducing our already limited ability to fund other critical public goods like education, the environment, human services, infrastructure, and public safety. To leave our health care system as is would be unjust and economically unsustainable.

I will:

• Champion a single payer, Medicare-for-All system for Massachusetts that will guarantee health care as a right for all residents
• Support regulations to guarantee coverage of essential health care services, such as cochlear implants
• Reduce the cost of care by negotiating lower drug prices and eliminating wasteful administrative costs
• Expand safety net programs for the uninsured and underinsured
• Continue the fight for the expansion of behavioral health and addiction treatment services