2018 MA Governor's race: on Health Care


Jay Gonzalez: Medicare for All, regardless of income or employment

I support a true single-payer health care system based on the principles of Medicare for All to ensure that everyone, regardless of income or employment status, has access to the health care services they need to be as healthy as they can be. I have long believed that health care is a basic human right. As a former health insurance executive, I know firsthand the inequities, waste and inefficiency that exist in our current, multi-payer system. This experience in the health care industry, as well as my time serving as Governor Patrick's Chair of the Board of the Health Connector implementing universal health insurance coverage here in Massachusetts, make me the most qualified candidate in this race to credibly make the case for a single-payer health care system, to actually make it happen, and to ensure it happens in a way that will achieve the desired outcomes.
Source: ORMA questionnaire on 2018 Massachusetts governor race Dec 20, 2017

Setti Warren: Health care is a right; support single-payer

We need to reduce the cost of care in Massachusetts, but Gov. Baker's plan to remove more than a hundred thousand people from MassHealth is not the right way to do it. Massachusetts needs a long-term healthcare plan that focuses on reducing administrative and drug costs and providing quality care for all of us. Health care is a right and it is the Commonwealth's responsibility to care for all of its residents. I am for a single payer system.
Source: 2018 Massachusetts Gubernatorial website SettiWarren.com Aug 31, 2017

Setti Warren: Accessible and affordable mental health and dental health

On what he wants out of Massachusetts healthcare system: "Here's what I want to see out of single payer system. I want to make sure health outcomes are based on the health of the person. I want to make sure we have community based care that's there and I want to make sure it's accessible and affordable to all people. It's gotta include thing like mental health and dental health. Right now our system is very expensive. As we heading into the next year the federal government is looking at cutting back on certain types of health benefits. We're in a very fluid situation.

"So we have to look at various varying options. There are a lot of options on the table. I've been talking to a lot of health care experts. We can certainly look at a public option which I think is very real and could occur here in Massachusetts. But the first question we have to ask ourselves is what kind of Commonwealth do we want to be. What kind of health care system do we really need here in the Commonwealth."

Source: WBUR.org on 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial race Jun 12, 2017

Setti Warren: Move us towards single-payer healthcare

Setti Warren plans to use new revenue to fund strategies that will reduce the scourge of economic inequality, like making public colleges free and moving us towards single-payer healthcare.
Source: 2018 Massachusetts governor campaign website SettiWarren.com Jun 1, 2017

Charlie Baker: Opposed Republican bill to eliminate ObamaCare

[Democratic opponent] Jay Gonzalez said the governor of Massachusetts should stand in opposition to the healthcare and budgetary policies of President Donald Trump, and that Baker's actions, which include writing a letter opposing the now-dead bill to eliminate ObamaCare, either came too late or are insufficient.

Gonzalez, speaking in the days before the House Republican's American Health Care Act of 2017 failed to pass the House of Representatives, said that national Republican efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's healthcare bill pose a serious threat to Massachusetts. Baker's administration released estimates last month showing that the AHCA would have cost the state $1 billion per year by 2020. "We need to be doing everything we can to try to stop that from happening," Gonzalez said.

While major federal health care changes are no longer imminent following the defeat of the ACHA, Trump tweeted last week that he is still dedicated replacing Obama's signature health care law.

Source: MassLive.com on 2018 Massachusetts governor race Apr 3, 2017

Jay Gonzalez: System is fundamentally dysfunctional; we need single-payer

Former Deval Patrick aide Jay Gonzalez said in an interview [that] the governor of Massachusetts should stand in opposition to the healthcare and budgetary policies of President Donald Trump. Gonzalez said Baker's actions, which include writing a letter opposing the now-dead bill to eliminate ObamaCare, either came too late or are insufficient. "This should be a huge concern for everybody in this state," Gonzalez said. "We need to be doing everything we can to try to stop that from happening."

Gonzalez said that while the ACHA would have been disastrous for the state, problems with the health care system extend far beyond that single issue. "I think our system is fundamentally broken. It's dysfunctional," he said. "This isn't an easy fix." He pointed to obscure and seemingly arbitrary price variations among health care providers, and said policymakers should "put everything on the table for consideration," including possibly instituting a single-payer system.

Source: MassLive.com on 2018 Massachusetts governor race Apr 3, 2017

Jay Gonzalez: Health insurance coverage for low-income residents

Jay Gonzalez has spent his career working to improve the lives of people in Massachusetts. Through his work providing health insurance coverage for low-income residents, helping cities and towns build new schools and fire stations, and managing the state budget for Governor Deval Patrick during the Great Recession, Jay has always put people first.

He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Health Connector, where he oversaw implementation of Massachusetts' health care reform. Most recently, Jay served as President and CEO of CeltiCare Health and New Hampshire Healthy Families, where he helped tens of thousands of low-income residents access the health care services they need. Under his leadership, Jay turned CeltiCare Health around, launched New Hampshire Healthy Families, grew the company's regional presence by multiple times and added hundreds of jobs.

Source: 2018 Massachusetts Governor campaign website jay4ma.com Mar 11, 2017

  • The above quotations are from 2018 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Baker on Health Care.
Candidates and political leaders on Health Care:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 11, 2018