Baker, Gonzalez split over single-payer health care
But the two have vastly different visions for the direction of coverage in
Gonzalez, a former state budget chief and CEO of the health insurer CeltiCare, thinks the state should shift to a single-payer system whereby employers and employees pay through payroll taxes instead of premiums that go to private insurers.
"We're can't afford not to do this," said Gonzalez, a Needham Democrat, in an interview Thursday. "Everyone should have access to the health care services they need, and the system we have today does not provide that. Our system is way too complicated and costly, and it's not financially sustainable."
Gonzalez hasn't released specifics of his plan but said it could be accomplished by "cutting out administrative waste."
"If we did this thoughtfully, it would save a lot of money," he said. "There's so much waste and inefficiency in the current system."
Previous proposals on
Similar to MassHealth -- the state's Medicaid program -- employees would get a health care card that could be used at hospitals and clinics.
But the idea has plenty of opposition, notably from the powerful insurance industry, which stands to lose billions of dollars if the current health care system is upended.
Baker, a former CEO of
The Republican's campaign touts his record of reducing health care costs and improving access to treatment, saying the approach is producing results.
Baker campaign spokesman
"
Gonzalez said Baker isn't doing enough to improve the state's health care system, and he argues that "radical" change is needed.
"He's not proposing any fundamental reforms," he said. "The status quo is working well for him and his wealthy supporters, but it is not working well for everyone else in the state who can't access to the health care that they need."
In
In the 1970s, Sen.
In 2006, then-Gov.
A 2016 study by the
But single-payer supporters say, even with near-universal coverage, many people struggle to afford it.
If elected, Gonzalez could find ready allies for his plans in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
Nearly 40 of 200 state lawmakers -- including some in leadership -- have signaled support for proposals to create a single-payer system.
Overall, health care costs in
A recent report by the state
The average resident spent about
One of the biggest drivers of costs is MassHealth, which covers more than 1.9 million people and consumes 40 percent of the state's
Baker has proposed a number of MassHealth reforms since taking office in 2014 but the Democrat-controlled Legislature has blocked many of them.
Lawmakers were considering an overhaul of the health care system to improve access to medical care in part by shifting hundreds of millions of dollars to community hospitals. But they failed to approve the package before the
Despite Baker and Gonzalez's backgrounds in health care,
"The silence on health care has been deafening," said
Whomever wins the governor's race,
"There's been constant attacks on a federal level of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and women's reproductive health," said Rosenthal, whose group doesn't endorse political candidates or their platforms. "So we're going need to figure out
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