Voters say yes to single-payer health care

BOSTON — Nearly two decades after Massachusetts started requiring every resident to carry health insurance, advocates say they’re building support to again transform the state’s health care system.

In the Nov. 5 election, voters in a nearly dozen House districts signaled their support for proposals to create a single-payer health care system by approving non-binding referendums asking their elected representatives to support it. Those questions were in addition to five statewide referendums on the ballot.

The referendums were overwhelmingly approved in 11 state House of Representative districts where it appeared on the ballot, in some cases winning more than 60% of the vote, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

That includes the fifth Essex district, where incumbent state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante won another term in November’s election. Voters in Gloucester, Rockeport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea approved the measure by an average of 61%, according to the group.

“These results are something that I will take into consideration,” Ferrante said the day after the election, “as I do with all constituent communications, expert testimony, and information presented in reports and hearings. A state-level single-payer system is a significant policy challenge due in no small part to the role that the federal government plays in healthcare.

“Given the uncertainties of current federal aid and reimbursements as a result of yesterday’s election, I suspect that this challenge will only grow larger and Massachusetts will have to fight to maintain our current level of services,” she said

Backers of the single-payer proposal say the support from voters in this and previous election cycles suggest that most Massachusetts voters support such a health system.

Jon Weissman, chair of the Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care, which organized the referendums, said the ballot questions passed even in House districts where President-elect Donald Trump carried the vote, demonstrating support across the political divide.

“The MAGA movement is ideologically opposed (to single payer health care), but there are some Republicans who are not,” he said. “People are not happy with the current health care system and they want a change.”

In 2022, Mass-Care said voters in 20 House districts signaled their support for the a single-payer system by approving the non-binding referendums.

The group specifically targeted House districts occupied by top legislative leaders, including the 3rd Norfolk District held by House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, but also open legislative districts that were electing freshman lawmakers.

“We’re going to keep going until we cover the entire state,” Weissman said.

Under a single-payer system, employers and employees would pay the state government through payroll taxes, instead of paying premiums to private insurers such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield or Tufts Health Plan.

Similar to MassHealth — the state’s Medicaid program — employees would get a health care card that could be used at hospitals and clinics throughout the state.

Single-payer proposals call for new payroll taxes — ranging from 2.5% to 10%, with exemptions for an employee’s first $20,000 to $30,000 in earnings. Proceeds would be deposited into a state-managed fund to pay for the program.

The idea has plenty of opposition, notably from the insurance industry, which stands to lose billions of dollars if the current health care system is upended by a single-payer model.

More than 98% of working-age adults in Massachusetts are insured, according to health insurance industry data.

But single-payer supporters say, even with near-universal coverage, many Bay Staters are struggling to afford it.

In Massachusetts and elsewhere, switching to a single-payer system modeled on health care in Canada and Europe has long been a goal for progressives within the Democratic Party.

In the 1970s, Sen. Ted Kennedy fought unsuccessfully to pass legislation in Congress to create a government-run insurance plan.

President Bill Clinton tried to push through a plan in the late 1990s that would have required private employers to provide insurance coverage for their workers. His proposal, too, fizzled out.

In 2006, then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, signed a law making health insurance mandatory in Massachusetts and setting up an insurance exchange. The law became the template for the federal Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Some states that have considered single-payer systems, including Vermont, have ditched the plans amid concerns about the cost to taxpayers.

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at [email protected] .

___

(c)2024 the Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester, Mass.)

Visit the Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester, Mass.) at www.gloucestertimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.