We can protect ourselves and our medical providers by passing Massachusetts Medicare For All as proposed in bills S.860 and H.1405. The Healthcare Finance Committee must vote to pass these bills. President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are kicking millions of people off health care. Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA will be severely cut. Alarmingly, a new model of claim validation uses artificial intelligence. UnitedHealthcare is a notorious example. AI is imprecise and fallible; UnitedHealthcare’s AI denied approximately 33% of valid claims. The new budget mandates using AI to “reduce and recoup improper payments” made by Medicare, with quotas. One in three Massachusetts residents, including half of all children and the disabled, rely on Medicaid (MassHealth), and hundreds of thousands more obtain insurance from the ACA (Health Connector). More than 1.4 million residents are enrolled in Medicare.
In Massachusetts, access to primary care and ERs has worsened, hospitals have gone bankrupt (10 in 2024 alone) and health care costs are among the highest in the country. Commercial health care expenditures have grown the fastest since 2019 and their profits have grown correspondingly. Pre-authorizations and claim denials have increased. Doctors and pharmacists are harried and stressed. We need Massachusetts Medicare For All!
Judy Franklin
Amherst
