Sonia Chang-Díaz is a former public school teacher and the first Latina and Asian-American to serve in the Massachusetts State Senate — and she’s spent her career fighting for and winning the bold change that working families need. Sonia’s mom was a social worker. Her dad came to America with $50 in his pocket and became NASA’s first Latino astronaut. Now she’s building a movement to tackle our state’s biggest challenges and restore Massachusetts’ promise to all families.
No one should be forced to choose between their health care and the financial security of their family. But that’s what happens to people every day in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has the highest rates of insurance coverage in the country. But costs are rising for families across the state and access to quality care continues to be determined too often by zip code, income, and the color of your skin. We need to end the ever-increasing premiums, high deductibles and copays, and skyrocketing prescription drug prices that put health care out of reach for too many. That’s why Sonia:
Supports legislation to establish a single-payer “Medicare for All” system, following the lead of many countries around the world that have better health outcomes at a fraction of the cost.
Championed legislation to improve access to reproductive health services for individuals on MassHealth.
Supports efforts to ensure mental health services are covered by insurance to the same extent physical health care services are covered, because these services are just as vital to Bay Staters’ well-being.
Over the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has also laid bare glaring inequities in health care access and outcomes, particularly for Black and brown communities. That’s why Sonia has:
Joined with community leaders and advocates to fight for equity in the COVID response efforts, including increasing multilingual outreach and mobile vaccination efforts in the hardest-hit communities.
Partnered with legislators and advocates to win $200 million in funding to update our crumbling public health infrastructure to reduce inequities and ensure these systems can meet large scale public health challenges.