Mass. Ballot Question 5 A Positive, Needed Reform

To the editors:

I am writing in response to Daniel P. Mosteller's article, In Quiet Year, Ballot Measures Draw Fight (News, Oct. 24), in which he detailed key ballot measures in the coming election. Specifically, I am concerned with Question 5, a petition that would provide access to health care to all state residents by July 1, 2002. The measure has several critics, even within the Harvard community, who primarily cite the economic havoc it would create. In particular, they note the rise in health insurance premiums and the possible collapse of managed health care in Massachusetts.

The truth is that Massachusetts spends more per capita on medical care than any other place on earth. One would expect, given these exorbitant expenditures, that most residents of the state would be provided at least some form of a guarantee to healthcare. However, approximately 350,000 people have no form of health insurance and cannot qualify for Medicaid. These uninsured are often working class people whose jobs do not offer a health insurance plan.

Question 5 on the statewide ballot will mandate the creation of a quality, patient-centered healthcare system accessible to all residents of the Commonwealth by July 2002. It will call for an immediate moratorium against for-profit corporate acquisition of not-for-profit hospitals and HMOs. More importantly, it will restore the patients right to choose his or her health and mental health professionals The initiative calls for at least 90 percent of all premiums to be used for patient care, public health, and training/research, and no more than 10 percent for administrative costs, with simpler paperwork and administration. These fundamental reforms of the system will hold down health care spending while improving the quality of care we all receive.

The voters in the Harvard community have a historic opportunity to lead the way out of this health care crisis by voting yes on Question 5 on Nov. 7.

Mandeep S. Jassal Nov. 1, 2000

The writer is a graduate student at the Harvard School of Public Health and is part of the schools Health and Human Rights Student Group.