Governor Senses "Pretty Good Chance" for Action on Health Care [+Audio]

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JAN. 28, 2020....A plan Gov. Charlie Baker says would reshape the health care system in Massachusetts has roots in an avenue he pursued when he worked in the insurance industry in the early 2000s.

Pitching his legislation that would require additional spending on behavioral health and primary care, the former Harvard Pilgrim CEO told the Health Care Financing Committee Tuesday he had approached provider organizations in the early 2000s while leading the insurance company and proposed paying "disproportionately" more for primary care and behavioral health than other fields. He sai he proposed paying based on Medicare fee-for-service averages, "because I believe Medicare, as a formula doesn't value them."