Op-ed: Importance of Boston City Council Supporting Single Payer Health Care Reform

The Boston City Council will take a bold step on Wednesday, August 24 by passing a resolution reaffirming its support for a single payer health care system.  The resolution calls upon the state legislature in the upcoming 2017- 2018 legislative session to propose and pass a measure to achieve a single payer system in the Commonwealth. This resolution is an extremely important endorsement for true health care reform that would make health care a right for all Massachusetts citizens and “provide availability and affordability of healthcare for all Massachusetts citizens.”

In 2001 the Boston City Council passed a similar resolution supporting single payer (also known as Improved Medicare for All). In 2008 the Commonwealth adopted Chapter 58 in an attempt to cover more people by mandating that everyone must buy health insurance or pay a stiff fine; but it lacked the ability to control health care costs. We now have the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that is largely based on Chapter 58.

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