Steve Grossman on Health Care

Former Chair of DNC; Democratic Challenger MA Governor

Advocates bulk purchasing of medication to reduce prices

Grossman has taken to the airwaves to talk about prescription drugs, touting a plan he says will save the state between $100 million and $150 million a year and will reduce drug costs for poor residents. The cornerstone of the plan calls for bulk purchasing of medication, a concept that is growing in popularity throughout the nation despite fierce opposition from pharmaceutical companies. Source: Rick Klein, Boston Globe Jun 21, 2002

Commit to public school teaching in exchange for scholarship

Grossman would begin a program that offers students a four-year scholarship, the equivalent of room, board, and tuition at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, to be used anywhere in the country in return for a commitment to work as a Massachusetts public school teacher for at least five years. Grossman said that would cost 1 percent of the $5.3 billion education budget and recruit 10,000 teachers over the next decade. Source: Yvonne Abraham, Boston Globe Apr 9, 2002

Every citizen has a right to basic health coverage

Healthy individuals and healthy families are the building blocks of a healthy society. That means access to quality health care for all, but it means so much more.

Steve is a responsible employer who provides good health care benefits to his employees and believes that every citizen has a right to basic health coverage. But hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts have no coverage at all and often resort to expensive emergency rooms for their care, or opt for no care at all.

Source: Campaign web site, Grossman2002.com Dec 7, 2001

Use cigarette tax increase to cover 75,000 more people

Steve supports the effort by the Alliance for a Healthy New England to cover an additional 75,000 Massachusetts residents by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 50 cents. He also believes we should expand the state’s Insurance Partnership, which helps qualified small employers -- including those who are self-employed -- pay for health insurance provided to their low- and moderate-income employees. Source: Campaign web site, Grossman2002.com Dec 7, 2001

State bulk purchasing to provide affordable senior Rx

The skyrocketing price of prescription drugs is a major factor in the increasing cost of health care, and too many people lack sufficient prescription drug coverage, especially our seniors. Steve believes we should pursue the kind of bulk purchasing program our neighbors in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are moving ahead with, to provide hundreds of thousands of consumers with the same discounts that the largest purchasers currently receive from drug companies. Source: Campaign web site, Grossman2002.com Dec 7, 2001

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