Cohasset Democrats Endorse Medicare For All Letter
The South Shore Medicare For All Coalition is supporting an initiative to encourage representatives to co-sponsor "An Act Establishing Medicare for All in Massachusetts." This bill will establish a single-payer health care system in Massachusetts, which guarantees comprehensive health care coverage for every resident from cradle to grave and replaces our high and rising premiums with taxes based on every resident’s ability to pay.
Our current health care system is not sustainable:
Health care spending takes up more than 45% of the State’s $52 billion budget. It is the elephant in the room - our largest expenditure by far, crippling our ability to fund other pressing priorities like education, housing, local aid, infrastructure, transportation, economic development, and our environmental crisis.
Massachusetts has the second highest health care costs in the country - an astonishing $10,500+ per person. Premiums alone for the average family health plan now exceed $21,000 per year, with deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, and uncovered services draining thousands more from family earnings.
Even before the pandemic, 27% of Massachusetts residents reported having an unmet medical need because of cost barriers, and one-third had out-of-pocket costs higher than $3,000 in the last year.
With the advent of COVID-19, unemployment in Massachusetts has been among the highest in the nation during the crisis, standing at 11.3% as of August 2020, putting displaced workers at risk of losing their health insurance, and threatening the state budget as enrollment in public health plans surges.
There is a better way. Medicare for All would cover everyone - regardless of employment status - and improve coverage, at less cost, while leaving in place our independent providers, physician practices, and non-profit hospitals.
Americans now support Medicare for All in unprecedented numbers: 88% of Democrats, 52% of Republicans, and 70% of all Americans. Yet, partisan politics have gridlocked Congress even as Americans continue to suffer the impacts of the pandemic. We in Massachusetts can lead the way by disconnecting health care from employment, and joining the rest of the developed world by guaranteeing health care as a right.
The Massachusetts Medicare for All bills in the last legislative session were co-sponsored by 73 State Senators and Representatives - all before COVID-19. Since the pandemic hit, the medical needs, risks, and costs have only escalated, driving popular demand for a comprehensive, systemic solution.
We, as the Cohasset DTC, voted to sign on to a letter encouraging representatives to co-sponsor this legislation. A copy of this letter can be found here.