The writer of the May 6 letter to (“Medicare hooey”) has apparently not read the “Medicare for All” proposals introduced in Congress and state Legislatures across the U.S. to establish single-payer health care financing.

In Massachusetts, An Act Establishing Medicare for All in Massachusetts (House bill 1405 and Senate bill 860) will guarantee equitable health care access for every resident of the commonwealth through the Massachusetts Health Care Trust, a single payer for all medically necessary care. All residents will be guaranteed access, without regard to financial or employment status, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, previous health problems, or geographic location. The Act will provide continuous access to health care services, without the current need for repeated re-enrollments or changes when employers choose new plans and residents change jobs. Coverage shall be comprehensive and publicly financed, free of out-of-pocket cost at point-of-care, with no co-insurance, co-payments, deductibles, or any other form of patient cost sharing.

You can read our Bill Summary by Section here. A one-page fact sheet is here. Our slide show summary of the bill is here.

There is no “new horror show of restrictions, exclusions, coverage limits, denied claims, etc.”

The letter writer describes the undermining of Medicare as originally intended (and as National Health Insurance, its predecessor New Deal proposal, was intended). He does not describe “Medicare for All.”

Jon Weissman, chair of Mass-Care: the Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care

Granby