Brown In ‘09: Admits Massachusetts Took Federal Dollars To Fund Health Reform, Sees Need For Public Option

While Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-MA) now says that Massachusetts shouldn’t subsidize federal health care reform, in October of 2009 the then-mostly unknown candidate Brown bragged that his state “took money that was coming from the federal government” rather than raise taxes to pay for its 2006 health care overhaul. During the radio interview with WRKO, Brown also defended the individual and employer health care mandates and admitted that the public option “may be good for other parts of the country“. (source)

Brown implied that the federal government needs to play a role in reforming the health care system and stressed that the federal dollars have helped insure residents who “don’t have any care whatsoever.” “Until they change the federal rules regarding health care and health care coverage for all, and we have to continue to support the folks hare in Massachusetts to keep them healthy,” he said.

* "Most in U.S. Want Public Health Option: Poll," Reuters, December 3, 2009

* "Poll: Public Option Way More Popular Than Senate Health Care Proposal," WhoRunsGov.com, December 10, 2009

* "House Progressives Push Reid To Put Public Option Back On Table," Huffington Post, January 27, 2010

* If you'd like to encourage Senate Democrats to use reconciliation to pass a public option, you may do so here.

* And if you'd like to contact Congress directly. You may do so here.

(Thanks for this contribution, Beny.)

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