Massachusetts health care reform
58
MENTIONS
23
EPISODES
19
PODCASTS
Search complete. 58 mentions across 23 episodes found for "Massachusetts health care reform".
Oct 19, 2026
Joel WoodGUEST
I think that it's a very, very slippery slope from the public option to Medicare for all.
Joel WoodGUEST
I also agree with the former Massachusetts governor, Charlie Baker, saying, was the architect of Romneycare, which was the model for Obamacare, and he noted that one of the first things that they attempted to do in Romneycare as well as Obamacare was to disintermediate brokers.
Joel WoodGUEST
However, You know, whenever reforms occur, the marketplace becomes all the more complicated, and our member firms' counsel is more necessary than ever.
Joel WoodGUEST
So I'm not apocalyptic.
Rick OlsonGUEST
Pretty soon you're talking about real money.
Rick OlsonGUEST
But the hope is that if we can show how that works, then perhaps we can do Senator Marty's – Minnesota health plan, which would then take the insurance companies out of the game for all of Minnesota, which then perhaps could be the precursor to health care for all United States, just like the Romney Care was a precursor for the Affordable Care Act.
Philip AnthonyHOST
Yeah.
Philip AnthonyHOST
Another –
Hasan PikerHOST
That's why it was designed by the Heritage Foundation initially in the 90s against, ironically enough, Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care program, which was Medicare for All.
Hasan PikerHOST
It was first implemented by Mitt Romney when he was the governor in the state of Massachusetts called Romney Care.
Hasan PikerHOST
That's what the Affordable Care Act was.
Hasan PikerHOST
A lot of people don't realize this, The alternative to the current healthcare system that is designed around profits for private healthcare profiteers is to completely throw that system away.
Hasan PikerHOST
That's why it was designed by the Heritage Foundation initially in the 90s against, ironically enough, Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care program, which was Medicare for All.
Hasan PikerHOST
Okay? It was first implemented by Mitt Romney when he was the governor in the state of Massachusetts called Romney Care.
Hasan PikerHOST
That's what the Affordable Care Act was.
Hasan PikerHOST
A lot of people don't realize this.
Ian CossHOST
I'm Ian Coss.
Ian CossHOST
You can think of Obamacare, and before it Romneycare, as a set of interlocking parts.
Ian CossHOST
You probably know some of their names already, the healthcare marketplace, preexisting conditions, the individual mandate.
Ian CossHOST
But I wanna share the strange story of where each of these pieces came from.
31 MINS LATER
Ian CossHOST
He was someone who wanted desperately to get into the insurance system and couldn't afford it, at least not the way the system was set up.
Ian CossHOST
So remember what I said at the top.
Ian CossHOST
Think of Romneycare, and therefore Obamacare, as a series of interlocking parts.
Ian CossHOST
If you look at the individual mandate in isolation, it does nothing to help Rudy.
Jim BraudeHOST
Romney lost that race for Senate, but eventually became governor, as you all know.
Jim BraudeHOST
Years later, Kennedy and Romney miraculously worked together for a brief time to pass Romneycare, which eventually became the model for Obamacare.
Jim BraudeHOST
This collaboration is the focus of the latest season of GBH's Peabody Award-winning podcast, "The Big Dig." Season is entitled "Mitt and Ted: A Healthcare Story." You can find episodes one through four now wherever you get podcasts.
Jim BraudeHOST
We're joined now at the library by host and producer Ian Coss.
Ian CossGUEST
Like, she knew Romney the presidential candidate, and it didn't really, like, click.
Ian CossGUEST
Like, h-how was he governor here? How did, uh, how did he pass this healthcare reform that sort of v- It, it never really added up to her.
Ian CossGUEST
So she was on me like, "You should do something about Romneycare." And, uh, I pitched our bosses, and it fell flat.
Margery EaganHOST
Oh.
Melissa Anne DuboisHOST
So it's interesting what you say, I remember what it was like, 'cause I actually don't, and the reason why is because, not that I'm not old, my kids tell me I'm old all the time, but, um...
Melissa Anne DuboisHOST
So in April of 20- 2006, which was a month before I graduated nursing school, uh, in Massachusetts, the state legislator passed a landmark healthcare reform legislation, uh, known as Chapter 58, also known as Romneycare-
Jamie BourgeoisHOST
I remember that
Melissa Anne DuboisHOST
... which was signed into law by Gover- the Governor Mitt Romney, which, uh-
Bradlee DeanHOST
He acts as a judge and rules on admissibility of evidence.
Bradlee DeanHOST
Remember Obamacare, which happened to be Romneycare, which turned its name and changed its name when Donald Trump got into office? American Health Care Act.
Bradlee DeanHOST
It was all the same thing, people.
Bradlee DeanHOST
See how they deceive the people, these insidious scoundrels? Ephesians 4.14, read it when you get a moment.
Peyron BaxterHOST
They're not going to be, because what's happening is the Republicans are actively dismantling and stripping the things away from you to be able to live.
Peyron BaxterHOST
The Affordable Care Act was a good first start, which is actually a conservative plan because there was Romney Care out of Massachusetts.
Peyron BaxterHOST
That's what the Affordable Care Act was based on.
Peyron BaxterHOST
So Obama took that and made the Affordable Care Act.
Peyron BaxterHOST
Even Mitt Romney, everybody missed that.
Peyron BaxterHOST
It was Romney Care.
Peyron BaxterHOST
But that didn't go far enough.
Peyron BaxterHOST
So then you had to get the subsidies.
Girard GilbertHOST
And remember, it was because they implemented a similar program in the liberal-based state of Massachusetts under Mitt Romney.
Girard GilbertHOST
They called it Romneycare, and they said, "No, thanks." And so they sent Scott Brown to block the same thing from happening at the federal level.
Girard GilbertHOST
Ironically, it was Ted Kennedy and the Kennedy family that advocated for big public healthcare for decades.
Girard GilbertHOST
Then he passes away, they lose their super majority, they send Scott Brown, and I know this sounds crazy, they had to settle for what we have.
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