• Sees Measure As Important First Step on Road to Health Reform
• Will Continue to Support Ballot Initiative and Its Call Universal Access by a Date Certain

The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) applauds the signing by Governor Paul Cellucci of "Patients' Bill of Rights" legislation granting many Massachusetts residents who are covered by managed care plans much needed and long-overdue protections. The MNA has worked with other advocacy groups for more than four years to win passage of a substantive patients' bill of rights. The MNA views this legislation as an important first step on the road to comprehensive health care reform that is needed to address a growing crisis in our health care system. But this first step does not go far enough in addressing the most important issue impacting our health care system, which is the need to guarantee universal access to health care for all Massachusetts citizens.

For this reason, the MNA continues to support a health care ballot initiative, Question #5 on the November ballot, which the organization, its members and other advocacy groups have promoted through the gathering of nearly 100,000 signatures of residents from throughout the Commonwealth.

"The MNA takes pride in the impact the ballot initiative has had on this new law," said Karen Daley, former President of MNA and one of the original ten signers of the ballot initiative. "But the principal objective of the ballot question – the issue of universal access – has yet to be adequately addressed by this. While there is a commitment to form a commission to study this issue in the bill to be signed today, and MNA will participate in that process, there is no clear mandate to achieve the objective of universal access by a date certain. We believe the more than 600,000 residents of Massachusetts who currently go without coverage deserve a guarantee of their rightful access to health coverage."

The MNA will continue to support any and all efforts to increase access to quality health care to anyone who needs it, and challenges the legislature to take the next important step on the road to health care reform by enacting legislation to secure universal access to health care for all Massachusetts residents in the next legislative session.

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