Hillary Chabot: Baker botches health care proposal with Friday news dump

Oct. 20--The Bay State's ever-cautious Gov. Charlie Baker -- battered by months of bad headlines from scandals at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and MBTA -- took some unusually strong action last week and filed a bill to reform Massachusetts' pricey health care system.

You'd be forgiven if you missed it. Baker unveiled his big proposal during the Beacon Hill black hole known as Friday afternoon, when most hallways under the Golden Dome have long gone dark and most residents are thinking about the weekend.

The communications whiff is baffling considering the comprehensive health care reform proposal offered the even-keel governor a rare chance to highlight his strengths as he looks to potentially run for a third term.

Health care is right in his wheelhouse. Baker served as the state's former secretary of health and human services. Also, in a career-making turn, he was Harvard Pilgrim Health Care CEO and saved the health insurance giant from bankruptcy.

His new proposal seeks to improve behavioral and primary care services while making hospital and doctor bills more predictable. It funnels $15 million to a fund that pays for uninsured hospital patients and earmarks $10 million a year for community hospitals and health care centers.

The bill won't make everyone happy. Drug manufacturers of products like EpiPens, for example, would be fined if they hike the cost of their products well beyond the rate of inflation.

But hey, here's Baker's chance to stand for something instead of sitting on the fence. The sweeping reforms could very well become a highlight of his five-year tenure, and Baker staffers didn't respond to questions about the bill's rollout.

Perhaps the Swampscott Republican can be forgiven for letting his communication game lag. He remains the most popular governor in the nation, according to a poll released Thursday by the Morning Consult.

And following bruising coverage of a records-keeping scandal at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and ongoing delays and derailments at the MBTA, maybe he's just sick of seeing the media all together.

But if Baker wants to run for a third term, and it's clearly under consideration, he needs to tighten up his public relations team. As the governor knows all too well, opportunities to brag come few and far between.

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