Medicare for All
An Act Establishing Medicare for all in Massachusetts
ON THIS PAGE:
- About the bill
- Bill history
- Advocates
What this bill would do:
- Establishes a single-payer health care system in Massachusetts
- Provides healthcare for all Massachusetts residents and individuals who work more than 20 hours per week in the state without premiums, co-pays, or deductibles
- Bans private insurance coverage for services already covered by the single-payer system
Why we need it:
Massachusetts spends more on healthcare than nearly every state in the nation. Under Medicare for All, money currently spent on profits, marketing, and administration would go to actual healthcare, and also provide $34 billion of savings in the first year alone.
16
years in consideration
8
times killed by the legislature
68%
of MA voters support M4A
741,079
people voted for M4A
The Logistics
- Employers and employees would no longer pay private companies for healthcare coverage
- Instead, employees would pay a 2.5% tax, excluding the first $20,000 of earnings; employers would pay an 8% payroll tax
- Children, students, the unemployed, and retirees would not be taxed
- 90% of Massachusetts residents would save money on healthcare compared to what they spend now; only the top 10% would pay more
Does your legislator support Medicare for All?
Bill History
The legislature’s website makes it extremely difficult to track bills from session to session, so we have compiled the complete bill history here. Each time the bill is killed, it is highlighted in red text and the people or committee to blame are linked where possible.
194th Session: 2025-2026
July 2026: House version redrafted as H.5590, which would establish a commission to study the possibility of establishing a single payer system in Massachusetts, with a report due in July of 2028. Reported favorably and moved to House Ways & Means.
January 2026: Senate bill “Sent to Study“, 01/29/2026
June 2025: Hearing held 06/18/2025
February 2025: Bill referred to Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
193rd Session: 2023-2024
May 2024: Sent to study, H.4634
November 2023: Hearing held by Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
192nd Session: 2021-2022
191st Session: 2019-2020
January 2021: No further action taken by Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
June 2019: Hearing held by Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
January 2019: Bill reintroduced as H.1194
190th Session: 2017-2018
December 2018: No further action taken by Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
June 2017: Hearing held by Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
January 2017: Bill reintroduced as H.2987
189th Session: 2015-2016
188th Session: 2013-2014
Advocacy Organizations
Our allies leading the fight for this bill
