“Alex Sheff, co-director of policy and government relations for Health Care For All, said average family premiums have tripled in the last two decades, and a January MassINC poll found that Black and Latinx residents are more likely to report having unmet medical needs because of health care affordability.
Eliminating copays and deductibles for just those seven conditions would save residents between $500 and $1,400 a year.
“This is what led to the really devastating consequences we saw from Covid. If you have folks who have, for years — decades even — faced additional financial barriers to accessing care at disproportionate rates, it’s not surprising that they are more likely to have uncontrolled chronic conditions,” Sheff said. “That is what helped contribute to the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on those communities.”
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