A devious piece of legislation quietly introduced in Massachusetts on January 18 appears on its surface to usher forward the fight for single-payer health care in the state, but in reality, undermines the struggle by placing health industry lobbyists in charge of a study of single-payer’s implementation.
Here’s a scenario that is now possible: A constituent in the Third Middlesex State House district in Massachusetts calls his or her elected representative in the State Legislature and demands action on single-payer. On the phone, Rep. Kate Hogan (a Democrat) can truthfully tell the caller that she has done so. In fact, she can boast that she introduced a single-payer bill that would create a commission to study the policy. Likewise, her cosponsors can do the same if pressed on the issue by constituents or journalists. The constituent hangs up the phone, happy to know her representative is on top of the issue.
Here is the problem. The constituent may not be aware that the study Hogan introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature (HD. 3448), which establishes “a special commission to study the implementation of single-payer health care in the Commonwealth,” is quietly designed to derail the policy rather than study it impartially. It is Trojan horse legislation that gives tremendous power to the lobbies representing the very industries that profit off the multipayer system, enabling them to help craft the study.
The bill calls for a commission with “a representative of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, a representative of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, a representative of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, a representative of Health Care for All; and two persons who shall be appointed by the governor.”
This tactic is not unique to Massachusetts. Comparable situations have occurred (or are occurring) in states such as Hawaii and New York. Advocates of health care justice nationwide will need to find effective ways to fight this…