Massachusetts lawmakers will hold a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would mean a big change for health care in the state.
Under the proposal, residents and employers would pay into a new state-run trust fund for health care instead of paying insurance companies.
It's known as single-payer or, more recently, "Medicare for All." Advocates say costs would go down — and that the timing couldn't be better.
Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, a Democrat from Northampton, filed the legislation.
"At a time when we're talking about school funding — where we're talking about municipal budgets stretched to the max — health insurance plays a huge role in both of those things," Sabadosa said. "It's something that if we addressed, we could really see funding freed up for the many other things that the Commonwealth wants to invest in."
Of course, Massachusetts health insurance providers aren't wild about the idea.
In a statement, their trade group said other states have rejected such plans because the significant tax increases needed would cripple economic growth and job creation.