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SWAMPSCOTT — Doug Thompson, a former health care executive and one of six candidates running for 8th Essex District representative, formally unveiled his health care and climate policy plans this week.
“It is no secret that Massachusetts is falling behind in providing affordable health care. Forty-six percent of residents in our Commonwealth are struggling to pay for essential health care. To put that percentage into perspective, this is your neighbor, your friend, your colleague, and your family member. If any resident in the 8th Essex cannot afford prescriptions, pay their medical bills, access reproductive health care, or visit with quality providers, it makes our entire district weaker.” said Thompson in a statement.
Thompson’s health care policy includes investments in primary care, behavioral health and geriatric care, and surrounding care teams to address social determinants of health and the needs of patients with complex health care needs. The policy plan would also fully fund a comprehensive public and private sector mental health system that ensures accessible, timely mental health services for children, families, and older adults.
The plan also seeks to reduce the costs of prescription drugs and provide consumer protections for high-cost drugs, in particular. Thompson’s plan would also simplify the administration of health care through movement toward a single payment system, and ensure access to comprehensive abortion and reproductive health services.
Thompson’s climate policy would seek to invest more and aim higher to get to Net Zero emissions by 2035 and to increase the maximum state incentive to purchase electric cars to a nation-leading $6,000 to ensure electric cars are not more expensive than an equivalent fossil fuel car.
The plan also aims to electrify all of the state’s public transportation, boost solar and wind energy, and to electrify heating and cooling of residential and commercial buildings.
“We also have a climate crisis and explosive growth in the cost of current fossil fuel-based energy supplies. We have a terrific opportunity to improve the health of the people of this district and Commonwealth, heal our planet, create good-paying green jobs and get energy costs down by investing in electrifying our transportation systems, building heating and cooling systems, and green power sources of the future now.”
Thompson is a health care expert with decades of experience in the public and private sector. He is uniquely qualified to drive large-scale changes because he has been doing it for 25 years. He previously served as the CFO for Masshealth managing a budget of $8 billion. Thompson also was a senior leader at Cambridge Health Alliance and Neighborhood Health Plan and was the founder and CEO of Perfect Health, a company that provides primary care to frail seniors at home in six states.
