Health Care

Because she believes everyone is entitled to affordable and accessible health care, Marty joined with her colleagues in 2006 to pass the sweeping health care reform law, which resulted in 98% of Massachusetts residents now having health insurance.

While proud that Massachusetts is leading the way nationally in the effort to provide affordable health care to all citizens, Marty understands that our work is not done. Ballooning health care costs put our new law at risk and are keeping adequate care out of reach for many hard-working families. Since approving the law, Marty has worked with her colleagues to curb health care costs, including by passing a cost containment bill in 2008. Marty is also a supporter of a single payer health care system.

The rising cost of health care coverage has placed a significant burden on small businesses. Marty voted for a new law that will reduce small business health insurance costs and promote job retention and job creation. The law reduces premium fluctuations and requires insurers to offer affordable health plans while also delivering an estimated premium relief of at least 10%.

Among other things, the new law allows small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance, giving them more leverage in negotiations with insurance carriers. The law also imposes new restrictions on those who improperly game the health insurance system by taking insurance when they need medical care and dropping the insurance once they are healthy. This has added costs to people who carry health insurance at all times. The new law also contains several other provisions intended to slow the rate of premium increases. While this is a good first step to cut health insurance costs for small businesses, more must be done.

Health insurance must provide the coverage that families and individuals need. Thanks to new state laws that Marty supported, insurers cannot discriminate against prospective policy holders based upon genetic testing results and are required to provide coverage for depression, post traumatic stress disorder, autism, eating disorders, and other mental health issues to the same extent as all other medical conditions. Health insurers must also cover care for children with mental illness and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Marty’s work on behalf of children with Autism earned her the 2010 “Legislator of the Year” award from Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts.

Because prescription drugs are already far too expensive, Marty and her colleagues in the House of Representatives approved legislation to let Massachusetts consumers take advantage of prescription drug coupons. However, the Senate did not approve this measure, so Marty will continue her advocacy in the 2011-2012 legislative session.

Marty knows how destructive the abuse of prescription drugs is. She voted for a new law to establish an electronic system to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II to V controlled substances, the drugs mostly likely to be abused.