As many Massachusetts residents stare down runaway healthcare costs, Governor Maura Healey offered an ever-so-slight shift in her position on a healthcare topic that has divided Democrats: Medicare for All
Healey, who shied away from taking a position on Medicare for All on the campaign trail in 2022, said Wednesday that she supports a single-payer health care system
“I support that model. I support a universal health care model,” the first-term Democrat said during an interview on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio.” Healey made her comments when asked whether she supports a “Medicare for All, single-payer system,” that would, as a caller argued, “provide much-needed financial relief to Massachusetts taxpayers.”
Healey didn’t go full-blown Bernie Sanders on air Wednesday. Despite voicing support for a single-payer system, she acknowledged, “It’s not the model that we have in this country.” She then pivoted to more well-worn talking points about the measures she’s taking to temper the state’s rising healthcare costs, touting her support for “universal health care” and underscoring the goal without embracing the slogan that’s more of apolitical lightning rod
Still, Healey’s public position highlights the fiscal reality facing Massachusetts voters. The Arlington Democrat has put affordability at the center of her reelectioncampaign. Massachusetts has the highest family health insurance premiums in the country, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission found in a report last year — and for voters looking for some reprieve, thesound of Medicare for All might just be music to their ears
Excitement for the health insurance system reached a fever pitch during the 2020 presidential election. Senator Elizabeth Warren was one of two presidential candidates — along with Sanders — to fully embrace a single-payer plan, providing a litmus test, if a short-lived one, for Democraticcandidates gunning for the White House
Healey isn’t alone in joining the single-payer bandwagon (even if in name only). Support for a single-payer healthcare plan became a major talking point for candidates running in the open governor’s race in another bluest-of-blue states this year: California
Medicare for All has also proven to be a winning message for some Democrats this year, including Juliana Stratton, who won the Democratic Senate primary in Illinois while touting the idea. Graham Platner also pushed the concept during his meteoric rise (and ahead of his dramatic fall) in Maine
Still, don’t expect any major state-level changes soon. The prospect of a single-payer program, in which a single entity or government agency acts as the main health insurer, has seen some support on Beacon Hill over the years, but not much movement, in part over heavy questions of how the state would actually pay for the model
A bill that would create a commission to study implementing the model is currently sitting in the House budget committee, one of many awaiting its fate ahead of Friday’s deadline for lawmakers to advance legislation ahead of the traditional “end” to formal sessions this year
MINOGUE IN MONTANA: Zuckerberg, Brady, and … Minogue: GOP gubernatorial candidate owns $31 million home in ultra-exclusive Montana enclave by Chris Van Buskirk, The Boston Globe: From 2,900 acres of private ski terrain to a manicured golf course, the wealthy members of the Yellowstone Club near Big Sky, Montana get to enjoy amenities only available in a place Forbes dubbed the “World’s Most Exclusive Club.”
Among them: Michael Minogue, the state GOP-endorsed candidate running for Massachusetts governor. The Hamilton Republican has campaigned on a platform of understanding the financial pains of voters grappling with the state’s dual housing and affordability crises
Minogue’s home has a market value of $31 million and provides another level of insight into the former medical device company executive’s vast wealth and potential connections as he pumps millions of his own dollars into his gubernatorial bid
“I don’t think Michael views the club as a haughty place to go,” said Robert Neuner, the chair of a super PAC backing Minogue and a friend who has known him since childhood. “I think he views it as a nice place to take his family and have an elevated ski experience.”
DAD NOD:The stars of the new ads Sixth Congressional District hopeful Dan Koh rolled out Thursday? His kids
The former Biden aide is going on air with two new spots featuring his children, Theodora and Jack, ahead of the fast-approaching Democratic primary. Part of the reason he’s running for Congress, Koh says in one of the two 30-second spots, titled “Future,” is because he worries “about the country we’re leaving our kids.”
Koh is the latest Massachusetts candidate to lean into the working dad aesthetic on the campaign trail. US Representative Seth Moulton’s first TV ad cut together clips of the Salem Democrat at a tea party with his two daughters and chasing them around his house to highlight his relative youth in his bid to unseat Senator Ed Markey
HOT AIR:Meanwhile, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Brian Shortsleeve’s new TV ad is sparking backlash from his own party
The 30-second spot, dubbed “Voter ID,” looked to spotlighta tenuous link between Shortsleeve’s primary opponent, Minogue, and the signature fraud saga that bounced one GOP lieutenant governor hopeful from the primary ballot and embroiled another
The attack drew a quick condemnation from the chair of the state Republican Party, Amy Carnevale, who called it “both misleading and deeply disappointing,” arguing that the fraud “was perpetrated against our candidates.” At the center of the scandal is a paid signature gatherer whom multiple candidates hired to help them collect their nomination signatures
MASS. FOR MICHIGAN:Two more Massachusetts politicians are backing Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive favorite in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary
US Representative Ayanna Pressley and Markey both threw their support behind El-Sayed, joining Warren in backing him as he prepares to face Michigan Representative Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s primary
NOT-SO-HOT SEAT:The Markey-Moulton Senate primary is a month away, but it’s hardly heating up by James Pindell, The Boston Globe: If people in Massachusetts talk about the state’s Democratic US Senate primary, they might describe it as a sleeper race about to catch fire — or just downright sleepy. But with a month to go before the Sept. 1 election between Markey and Moulton, the better word to describe the contest might be stuck
EXIT STRATEGY:Under pressure, Mass. convention center chief says he’ll exit controversial $2 billion Springfield courthouse deal by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: Under immense pressure and an active lawsuit, the head of the state’s convention center authority said Wednesday that he is “divesting” from a controversial $2 billion deal to redevelop a site in downtown Springfield to replace the city’s troubled courthouse
John Barros, the interim executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, said in a statement through his attorney that he also divesting from CoJo Real Estate — a Boston partnership owned by Barros and Conan Harris, Pressley’s husband — that was part of the team that won the bid to build the project
BREAKING THE ICE:Massachusetts lawmakers strike deal on bill they say will bolster protections for immigrants amid ICE crackdown by Chris Van Buskirk, The Boston Globe: Massachusetts state lawmakers struck a deal Wednesday on a bill that would protect immigrants from civil arrests in courthouses and schools, and build upon a nearly decade-old court decision that restricts local law enforcement from helping federal immigration authorities
BALLOT BUSTERS:Late-moving legislative action injects ‘ambiguity’ into ballot questions by Chris Lisinski, CommonWealth Beacon: Depending on the course of House-Senate negotiations, Beacon Hill might take the bite out of a tax rebate law at the same time that voters are deciding whether to expand it. Both branches are also eyeing a legal lever that, if pulled, could force their preferred, more limited version of public records reforms to supersede whatever voters decide on a ballot question that would extend the reach of the state public records law to lawmakers and the governor. And in each case, lawmakers could wait until the lame-duck stretch after the Nov. 3 election to play their cards.
NORWOOD HOSPITAL TRIAGE:State effort to seize Norwood Hospital by eminent domain advances in Legislature by Jonathan Saltzman, The Boston Globe: The Massachusetts House is poised to approve a revised bill on Thursday Healey’s administration to seize the partly built replacement to flood-ravaged Norwood Hospital, according to two sponsors of the measure. Just hours after the Senate unanimously approved the bill on Wednesday, state Representative John H. Rogersand state Senator Mike Rush said they expect the House will quickly follow suit and send the legislation to Healey’s desk for her signature.
The bill could clear the way for completion of construction and transfer of the property to a new owner. The development has given hope to local officials who have pushed for years for the hospital’s resurrection
OTHER END-OF-SESSION ODDS AND ENDS: Lawmakers have two more days to shuttle as much legislation as they can into so-called conference committees that will keep bills in play after Friday’s typical end-of-formal-session deadline. But some final agreements could come out of conference before then, too
Looking good:Lawmakers tasked with reaching an agreement on home care worker licensure legislation sounded optimistic on Wednesday about reaching a deal before Friday
Looking less good: The complex and politically fraught energy affordability bill seems likely to end up in the post-July 31 pile. But one key negotiator, state Senator Michael Barrett, made the case for reaching a deal before Election Day
“We should do this, ideally, before a November election, so that those of us who have races can point to an achievement,” Barrett, a Democrat, said Wednesday, per the State House News Service
Added to the to-do list: The House rolled out its version of the Senate’s primary care legislation Wednesday, and passed a bill aimed at aiding those living with dementia
Why Flock surveillance cameras are drawing fierce backlash across Massachusetts by Yogev Toby, The Boston Globe
‘Would never approve of my music being used in support of you.’ Noah Kahan slams Trump for using his song in a post. by Mark Shanahan, The Boston Globe
Here’s what Black clergy have to say about Boston street violence by Danny McDonald, The Boston Globe
Half of all nursing homes in Massachusetts are understaffed by Grace Ferguson, The New Bedford Light
Senators demand proof that U.S. DOT can ensure school and city bus safety by Topher Sanders, ProPublica andWilloughby Mariano, WBUR
In Lowell, the fight over a data center has hit a crisis point by Jeremy Siegel, GBH News
High-speed internet is finally reaching the last homes in Florida, Savoy, Hawley and Monroe by Izzy Bryars, The Berkshire Eagle
Thanks for reading The Scrum
This newsletter was edited and produced by Matt Stout
Have a question for the team? Email us at thescrum@globe.com
Delivered Monday through Friday
Kelly Garrity can be reached at kelly.garrity@globe.com
