Swampscott business exec eyes gov run

SWAMPSCOTT – Swampscott resident Charles D. Baker, president and chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, acknowledged over the weekend that he is mulling a run for state governor in 2010.Baker, a Republican activist considered by party leaders as the candidate able to unseat Gov. Deval Patrick, alluded to his political aspirations during a radio interview with WBZ’s Jon Keller. However, Baker also stressed that he’s perfectly content with his day job as a health care executive.”I really like my day job. I enjoy it a lot. It is that time of the cycle. You know, there’s going to be an election in a couple of years,” he said.Baker, 52, explained that he has not been attending political fundraisers but continues to discuss possibilities with Republican party members. “I’ve definitely been out talking with people in the party because I want to see the party succeed,” he said.Baker told Keller he would score Patrick an “incomplete” grade for his gubernatorial performance to date.”I think you’d have to give it an incomplete, because when Gov. Patrick ran and was elected, we were in one environment, economically and sort of politically, and now we’re in a completely different one,” he said. “And I’ve said this to a lot of people, I think the challenges that are going to face state, city officials over the course of the next 24 months are going to be profound. Probably as profound as any that have faced any political figure in the last 25 years.”Baker said Patrick would score an incomplete for his handling of health care costs. He also reiterated his opposing opinion over the governor’s decision to mandate prescription drug coverage. “I think the state’s overplaying the hand on that one. I totally get the notion how important prescription drug coverage is and how important prescription drugs are,” he said. “But if we’re going to require everybody in Massachusetts to buy coverage, including people who are relatively healthy and don’t really see why they need to shell out $12,000 for family coverage, which is sort about what the average is, we need to give them as many choices as possible. And I think on this one, I part company with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”In 2006, Baker weighed a run for governor but backed out.At the time, he explained, “It was a difficult decision. There were a lot of reasons it made sense to run, but at the end of the day I couldn’t get over the hump of disruption it would create for my family.” Baker added that his political aspirations would not likely remain dormant. As he put it, “The kids will get old and I’ll get wiser.”Baker held on to his $1 million a year job, choosing to spend free time with his wife, Lauren, and their three children. The couple moved to Swampscott in the early 1990s and Baker topped the ticket in the town’s Board of Selectmen race in 2004.Under Baker’s leadership, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care finished first in the country for four consecutive years on the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) annual ranking of health plan performance on clinical effectiveness and member satisfaction, and for the third year in a row, was featured in a special issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine on the nation’s best health plans.Prior to joining Harvard Pilgrim, Baker spent eight years in Massachusetts government, where he served as Secretary of Administration and Finance and Secretary of Health and Human Services under Governors William Weld and A. Paul Cellucci. He won several awards for his work in state service, including the National Governor’s Association Distinguished Service Award.Baker received a Master’s degree in management, concentrating in public administration and finance, from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and a bachelor of arts in English from Harvard College.”If he were to run I would be inclined to support him,” Republican sheriff of Essex County, Frank Cousins, told reporters.Rep. Brad Hill, an Ipswich Republican, offered similar support, as