Patrick to back universal health plan
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick will deliver a speech today endorsing a plan to establish universal health coverage in Massachusetts that is funded by hiking cigarette taxes 50 cents a pack and by creating a new payroll tax for employers that do not offer worker health plans.
Patrick, a former assistant US attorney general and corporate executive, is also promising to establish a government bulk purchasing plan for prescription drugs in an effort to use the buying power of the state as leverage to significantly lower medication prices.
He says he would also advocate for the federal government to lift its ban on the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada, where government price controls significantly decrease the price of medications.
He would also seek to require health insurance firms to publicly disclose all premium increases, as well as conduct public hearings, before putting price hikes into effect.
''I see healthcare as a common good -- like clean air, safe streets, and effective education -- and so I believe that government has a role to play in assuring that the conditions exist for a healthcare system we all want," Patrick will say in a speech at the St. Francis House, according to a draft provided to the Globe. ''The 'market' alone is not enough."
The Milton Democrat, who has emerged as the chief competitor to state Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly in next year's primary fight, issues his health plan at a time when Governor Mitt Romney and legislative Democrats are already working to address the climbing cost of medical care.
Romney and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini have each unveiled proposals to address the insurance gap in Massachusetts, which has left an estimated 500,000 to 750,000 residents uninsured. And House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi is preparing to release his own proposal next month.
Romney and Travaglini both said they oppose an employer mandate mechanism that Patrick is endorsing. Such a proposal was passed into law under Governor Michael S. Dukakis, but his successor, William F. Weld, never implemented it.
The plan Patrick is endorsing was written by the advocacy group Health Care For All Massachusetts, and was sponsored by Senator Richard T. Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat, and Representative Deborah D. Blumer, Democrat of Framingham.
Business groups yesterday said they were surprised that Patrick would endorse the bill at a time when it's clear that State House leaders were seeking ways to close the insurance gap that do not rely on a payroll tax.
''The fact that he's endorsing an employer mandate plan is somewhat surprising," said Eileen McAnneny, vice president for government affairs at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the largest employer trade group in the state. ''The healthcare reform debate is imminent on Beacon Hill, and some ideas might work for everyone."
Reilly's campaign committee issued a statement yesterday saying the attorney general will address the state's healthcare issues in the future, adding: ''No candidate can match Tom Reilly's experience and record of accomplishment in healthcare." 