Mass. lawmakers consider single-payer system | The Compost Bin | Forums

Wonder how that works with the ACA

BOSTON – State lawmakers heard arguments Tuesday in favor of a single-payer health insurance system for Massachusetts, with proponents testifying that more needs to be done despite the advances brought on by state and federal law.

“I acknowledge that in Massachusetts we have a great health care system, but it is not a system that works for everyone,” Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, said at a Joint Committee on Health Care Financing hearing. “Almost every developed country provides it to their citizens as a right … and we need to take a look at addressing it as a right here in Massachusetts.”

Mr. Eldridge is a sponsor for S.579, a bill that would move health care insurance from private companies to a single-payer system, in which the state insures all citizens. A comparable bill H.1026 has been filed by Rep. Tom Sannicandro.

“We continue to see increasing health care costs year after year, and it is becoming a greater burden,” Mr. Eldridge said. “It is time for Massachusetts to continue to be an innovator and leader for reform”

Although Massachusetts boasts the nation’s highest rate of health insurance coverage, a February report by the University of Massachusetts Medical School found about 200,000 Bay State residents did not have coverage in 2015.

While the federal 2010 Affordable Care Act lowered the uninsured rate on a national level, Massachusetts has not seen a measurable decrease in the last several years, according to the report, commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.

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