Dear Friend,

Today is an exciting day - it was 14 years ago today that President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, providing health insurance coverage -- and the resulting peace of mind -- to millions of Americans.

It is especially gratifying to me because I was there in the beginning!

From 2004-2006, as a young new primary care physician at MGH, I worked with colleagues on the “Health Care for Mass” Campaign. Our goal was a constitutional amendment recognizing a right to health insurance, similar to the right to education enshrined in the Commonwealth's Constitution. 

After the campaign gathered the necessary signatures, and the Massachusetts Legislature voted in favor of the amendment at the first constitutional convention in 2004, we lobbied medical groups and other colleagues to support the amendment and to lobby their legislators to support it. Simultaneously however, Governor Romney and some legislators were pushing for legislation guaranteeing universal health care coverage, and the legislature chose to pursue that route rather than the constitutional amendment.

Without the pressure of the constitutional amendment moving forward, some have argued Beacon Hill would not have supported and passed the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law, ultimately called Romneycare. So, in that way I played a small but important role in the passage of "Romneycare" – which eventually led to "Obamacare!"

The work is far from over. While here in Massachusetts we have widespread coverage, that doesn't get you far if the premiums are too expensive, if you cannot access a primary care doctor, if there are no beds in the ER when you need one.

If elected, I will be the only medical doctor in the State Legislature. Let me put my 25 years of health care expertise to work for you.

With gratitude,