Winning “Improved Medicare For All” in Massachusetts or “Single Payer” and expanding and stretching the Commonwealth’s revenue stream are among my top two campaign priorities.
What if I told you the two were linked?
Right now, costs associated with health care are spiraling upward. What’s clear is that they won’t get any smaller unless we undertake a massive reform effort.
That means that—unless we get health care costs under control—any additional revenue the Legislature raises will likely be siphoned off to deal with ballooning health care expenditures.
But here’s the thing: a new study from UMass Professor Gerald Friedman found that Single Payer—while providing universal coverage—also arrests and then reduces a combination of government, business, and personal health care spending by nearly $22 billion every year, in part by:
- Lowering provider and insurance administration costs, drug prices, and hospital rates.
- Eliminating the need for employer-related insurance administration costs.
So what this all means is:
Single Payer health care would not only provide necessary universal coverage and arrest out of control health care costs, but it would reduce costs over time allowing for greater spending in areas like public education, the environment, our infrastructure, job creation, and more.
That’s what I’d call a win-win. Now we need the political will and solid strategy to make it happen. Thank you to Western Massachusetts Medicare for All for leading the way!
