Ronald A. Gabel

Massachusetts Medicare for All

Senator James Eldridge's Senate Bill S.744 would create Massachusetts Medicare for All. Although its concept is brilliant, the bill does not clearly convey it. Therefore, I have rewritten key parts of the bill with clear and detailed specifications. (See: "Massachusetts Medicare for All (Gabel) ."

My rewrite of Massachusetts Senate Bill S.744 would be ready for legislative action except for a fatal flaw – The sources of revenue specified in S.744 have not been shown through rigorous economic analysis to be sufficient to cover the anticipated costs of Massachusetts Medicare for All.

When healthcare economists analyzed Vermont's 2011 Medicare for All bill, they found a shortfall between revenues from federal sources and the anticipated costs of Green Mountain Care that reasonable increases in taxes could not bridge. This led to the governor's 2014 decision not to proceed. (See "How Vermont's single-payer health care dream fell apart .")