Poll shows support for healthcare amendment

Supporters of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing healthcare coverage for Massachusetts residents said yesterday a new poll shows overwhelming support for the measure in advance of tomorrow's constitutional convention.

Of 410 Massachusetts adults polled, 76 percent said they supported a measure that would ensure every resident had access to affordable, comprehensive, equitably funded health coverage.

``We have sensed this strong support for some time as we have built our grassroots campaign in support of this ballot measure," said Barbara Roop , cochair of the Health Care for Massachusetts Campaign, which backs the amendment.

At the convention, the measure needs only 50 votes from state legislators to be put on the statewide ballot in November's election .

``The Health Care Amendment is an essential part of ending one of the fundamental injustices in our healthcare system -- quality healthcare for some," said Dr. John D. Goodson , cochair of the campaign.

The campaign for the amendment has lost momentum since the state's healthcare overhaul bill was passed in April. Many healthcare advocates are now involved in influencing implementation of the law, which requires residents to purchase health insurance and mandates that employers who don't provide a meaningful contribution to worker's healthcare pay a per-employee fee.

Last week, MassACT, a coalition promoting affordable care, abandoned its effort to put a healthcare question on the ballot and will instead focus on making healthcare overhaul a success.

Roop said it's too early to determine whether the overhaul will achieve the goals spelled out in the proposed amendment.

``Is it really affordable? Is it sufficiently comprehensive? Is it fair?" Roop said. ``It's a foundation, but until this round of reform is fully implemented, I can't tell you the answer to those questions."

Russ Davis , executive director of Massachusetts Jobs for Justice, said his group has won support for the proposed amendment from 50 unions in Massachusetts. While the changes may help residents who don't have insurance, he said, they don't protect those who have insurance but are faced with higher premiums and co-payments.

``We're trying to set in place a process where we can address the healthcare crisis that affects everybody, not just the uninsured." said Davis.

The healthcare bill is intended to provide affordable and subsidized insurance to the roughly 500,000 state residents who lack coverage. The first low-cost policies are scheduled to be made available this fall, and the measure should be fully implemented by July of 2007.

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.