Press Release: 6/12/2025
Family Physicians Endorse Mass. Medicare for All
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kimberley Connors, Executive Director, Mass-Care, 617-297-8011, director@masscare.org or
Dr. Michael Kaplan, mikaplan@aol.com, (413) 446-5241
The Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians has endorsed An Act Establishing Medicare for All in Massachusetts (H.1405 & S.860).
Based in Waltham, the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians empowers and supports family physicians in providing high quality, cost-effective, equitable, compassionate care to improve the health of the people of Massachusetts.
Speaking for the Academy, Lenox doctor Michael Kaplan said, “MassAFP decided to support the act with testimony to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing because of the crisis in the availability of primary care.” Dr. Kaplan is a long-serving board-certified family physician and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing will hold its hearing on the act (“Hearing on Single-Payer Bills and Miscellaneous Matters”) on Wednesday, June 18 at 11:00 AM in Gardner Auditorium and virtually.
MassAFP describes the act this way:
“The bill establishes the Massachusetts Health Care Trust, a state-managed single-payer system designed to ensure all residents have equitable access to health care services without any direct costs such as co-insurance, co-payments, or deductibles. The Trust will manage the collection and distribution of health care funds, providing universal access to a wide range of services regardless of financial, employment, or demographic factors.
“A Board of Trustees, comprised of representatives from various sectors, will govern the Trust to ensure comprehensive oversight and policy determination concerning medical issues, research, and service standards. Funding for the Trust will come from dedicated health care taxes on employers, employees, and self-employed individuals, alongside existing public health funds redirected to a centralized, state-managed system.
“Budgets for health care providers will be allocated through the Trust Fund, focusing on high-quality care and addressing Massachusetts residents’ diverse health needs. Emphasis will be placed on preventive care, cost control, and eradicating care delivery inequities.”
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Mass-Care’s mission is to establish a Single Payer health care system in Massachusetts so that all residents of the Commonwealth will have access to comprehensive, quality, and equitable health care, publicly financed and free of out-of-pocket cost at point-of-care, with free choice of practitioners, because it is basic to life and human dignity. The Mass-Care Coalition is now over 100 organizations.
www.masscare.org / 617-297-8011 / info@masscare.org