Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Address Health Care Issues During Radio Debate

The four Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidates had a "heated exchange" on health care and other issues during an hour-long radio debate Sept. 3, the Boston Globe reports. Health care was the one issue in which the candidates "had the most substantive differences," the Globe reports. State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien and state Senate President Tom Birmingham each touted their records on health care, while former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and former state Sen. Warren Tolman tried to "appeal to voters as reformers." Birmingham made a "dig" at O'Brien for her work at Community Care Systems Inc., a now-defunct operator of mental hospitals, asking her, "Does that inform your views on whether we ought to go forward with for-profit health care?" O'Brien countered by saying that her tenure made her "aware of problems in the health care industry" and criticized Birmingham for not addressing "inadequate" Medicaid provider rates, the Globe reports (Klein, Boston Globe, 9/4). O'Brien advocates creating a state office of women's health policy, studying disparities in health care for minorities and implementing a tiered drug plan to purchase Medicaid beneficiaries' medications (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/14). Birmingham and O'Brien called health reform proposals by Tolman and Reich "unrealistic" because of the state's tight budget (Boston Globe, 9/4). Reich wants to allow uninsured residents to purchase health coverage through a state plan, expand disease management programs, increase state bulk purchasing of prescription drugs, restore Medicaid eligibility for 50,000 residents who will lose coverage as a result of budget cuts and provide at-home care rather than nursing home care for Medicaid beneficiaries (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/13). Tolman proposes creating a universal health care system that would require employers and their workers to make direct contributions to the new plan, which would replace MassHealth, the state's Medicaid and CHIP program (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/29).