Candidate Survey Response: Healthcare
I received and responded to a candidate survey from Progressive Mass. In the spirit of transparency, I’m happy to answer candidate surveys from any legitimate organization in Massachusetts as long as they don’t require me to refrain from sharing the questions and my responses.
It was an extremely long survey covering a variety of topics, and it also asked questions related to many topics (see other topics on the platform details page). Below is an excerpt of questions/responses. For brevity, I’ve omitted responses to questions that are already covered elsewhere on this website.
Questions as worded on the survey, my “yes/no” required response on the form, and my additional commentary to provide clarity:
Single Payer. Would you support legislation to enact a single payer health care system in Massachusetts, which would guarantee health insurance as a right?
YES — This support would be highly dependent on the specifics of the legislation and evidence that the particulars of the approach would be likely to provide better and more affordable healthcare outcomes for individuals, families and communities. It would also need to be setup in a framework that is scalable and sustainable for generations to come.
Medical Debt. States like Connecticut and Arizona have taken action, in partnership with RIP Medical Debt, to eliminate medical debt for hundreds of thousands of working-class residents. Would you advocate for similar action in Massachusetts?
YES — This seems like a reasonable first step, but it should be paired with addressing the root causes of medical debt in the first place while also acknowledging that as a society we should value and compensate medical professionals appropriately for the crucial services they provide.
Reproductive Justice (part 1). Would you support requiring health insurance plans to cover all pregnancy care (including prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum care), without any kind of cost-sharing, building on the recent mandate to require coverage for abortion and abortion-related care?
YES — I would support requiring health insurance plans to cover all pregnancy care (including prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum care); however, I'm not sure if I agree with the proposal of "without any kind of cost-sharing". I would be concerned that this might result in patients requesting or hospitals providing more medical treatment (or more expensive medical treatment) than is actually appropriate in order to collect more money. If a "no cost-sharing" model were implemented, there would need to be some sort of bureaucratic controls in place to avoid padding or further inflating the cost of medical care. Please also see: Universal Reproductive Agency & Access to Life-Saving Care.
Reproductive Justice (part 2). Young people under sixteen seeking an abortion must obtain parental consent or judicial authorization. While most young people involve their parents, many cannot, causing delays to timely medical care and counseling. Scared teens may also turn to dangerous measures: going out of state or risking their lives and health with illegal or self-induced abortion. Would you support repealing this restriction on young people's access to abortion?
NO — I would support identifying solutions to address this concern. However, a simple repeal could put medical professionals in a very vulnerable position of being expected to perform medical procedures on a minor without adult consent, which could result in unnecessary tort liability. Similar to the concept that minors cannot legally provide consent to sexual acts (i.e. the basis for statutory rape or sexual assault), minors are also unable to legally provide consent for medical procedures (or many other important life decisions). Therefore, we need a solution that both provides a path to safe medical care for minors in a compromised household but also allows for clear and legally defensible consent to be provided to medical professionals.
Anti-Abortion Centers. In Massachusetts, anti-abortion centers (also known as crisis pregnancy centers), which have a politically-motivated agenda to dissuade and delay patients from accessing abortion care, outnumber abortion clinics by more than 2 to 1. These centers scare and shame pregnant people considering abortion care and often oppose birth control and emergency contraception. Would you commit to opposing any Massachusetts government support and funding for such centers?
YES
Overdose Prevention Centers. An essential part of addressing the opioid crisis, overdose prevention centers allow medical professionals to respond to overdoses and engage participants in medical and behavioral health services. Would you support the legalization of overdose prevention centers?
YES — I would strongly prefer legislation targeted at avoiding opioid addiction in the first place. However, I am open to reasonable medical practices with appropriate controls in place to avoid fraud, abuse, and misallocation of controlled substances.
Community Immunity Act. Would you support strengthening the Commonwealth's immunization policies by standardizing the immunization requirements for all schools, daycare centers, and other covered programs and centralizing within the Department of Public Health (DPH) the processes for obtaining an exemption from those requirements?
NO — I fully support the use of vaccinations with proven efficacy, and I would support educational and informational efforts to encourage all residents to get vaccinated on a regular basis. I also fully support the role of the government in ensuring a ready supply of medical supplies. However, I believe that ultimately parents (and people generally) should have a choice in whether to have any medication, medical procedures, and immunizations administered on themselves and their children.