Massachusetts Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll said the state is doing its best to mitigate the harms caused by the Trump administration’s "draconian" cuts to health care.
Last year, the Republican-led U.S. Congress passed about a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid, health care subsidies, and public health, as well as imposing work requirements for Medicaid recipients.
Speaking at a Springfield, Mass., summit on health equity, Driscoll called those changes not only cruel and mean-spirited, "but it's also dumb," she said, "because if you want to lower costs for everyone, you've got to get people care, particularly the most vulnerable folks."
Driscoll said Massachusetts leaders are trying to lower health care costs — for instance, by reducing insurance red tape when you have a chronic disease, or stopping medical debt from staying on your credit report — in part to help patients most harmed by federal cuts.
"We can't replace every dollar. Like not even close. You all know that," she said. "But I think we can commit and really be true to our beliefs. We stand for health equity."
In contrast to the federal government, Driscoll said, Massachusetts is also using technology and data to narrow health disparities.