Massachusetts, a pioneer in making healthcare a right, leads the nation in health insurance coverage. Massachusetts has long been a leader in providing high-quality health coverage with highly trained professionals, world-class hospitals and companies on the cutting edge of medical innovation. Still, real challenges remain in our healthcare system.

Massachusetts’ healthcare comes at a high cost. It is among the most expensive in the United States. Our costs for healthcare are presently more than twice what we spend on education. With three insurance providers controlling 70% of the market, a public option would infuse competition and help control costs. I support the pending bill, “An Act Establishing a Public Health Insurance Option” (S514), which would allow consumers to buy into a public insurance plan and offer real competition.

The long-term solution is to move towards a single-payer, “Medicare for All” system, which would simplify the current system and contain costs. A single-payer insurance system in Massachusetts is also an economic issue. Uncoupling health insurance from employers allows business and manufacturing to better compete in the global economy with companies from other countries that are not burdened with the same health insurance overhead. It can also unleash entrepreneurship spurred by American innovation and creativity that is no longer restrained by the fear of losing health insurance.