Greenfield Human Rights Commission supports single-payer health care resolution

Greenfield City Hall. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Published: 07-15-2025 6:17 PM |
GREENFIELD — The Human Rights Commission voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to support a statewide single-payer health care system on Monday, bringing the idea one step closer to City Council.
The resolution, which was initially brought forward by Human Rights Commission Co-Chair Paul Jablon in May, aims to save the city and its residents from exorbitant prices and help remedy the city’s homeless crisis.
“This is a long, long slog and a very powerful health insurance lobby to try to change,” commission member Linda Goldstein said. “It’s important that communities in western Mass understand the impact, not only to the general population, but also to the homeless.”
Jablon said Finance Director Stephen Nembirkow ran the numbers with him, and estimated that, in fiscal year 2026, the city would likely save close to $6 million in health insurance costs under a single-payer system.
In February, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa and Margaret Scarsdale refiled legislation to establish single-payer health insurance in Massachusetts. The legislation, called “An Act Establishing Medicare for All in Massachusetts” (H.1405/S.860), seeks to establish the Massachusetts Healthcare Trust: a single payer of all health care costs to replace insurance companies.
If passed, the legislation would make Massachusetts the first state in the country to adopt a single-payer health care system. According to Greenfield’s Chief of Staff Erin Anhalt, the city, in fiscal year 2026, is paying approximately $10.62 million in health insurance costs, not including the copays that are the responsibility of each of the city’s employees.
“Given the rising health care costs that are crippling the city budget, looking at alternatives is very important,” City Council President Lora Wondolowski said in an interview Tuesday. “With people losing Medicare and Medicaid benefits, we’re going to be in a tough spot.”
The resolution, Wondolowski said, will go before the Committee Chairs subcommittee, which will decide whether it must be assigned to a different subcommittee for review before it reaches the full City Council.
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Jablon, in an interview Tuesday morning, said multiple city councilors have expressed interest in the resolution. He added that single-payer health care appears to be a nonpartisan issue backed by supporters on both sides of the political aisle.
“The part of this that is so exciting to me is this really seems to be a non-partisan issue. … There have been non-binding ballot questions, as far back as ’98 but this year as well, and it’s won in every district in the state, and two in western Mass that Trump carried,” he said. “This issue of single-payer health care is not one of those things that has any division. It’s across the board. The only thing stopping it is lobbying from the insurance industry.
“If we could get this passed, both in the state to start, but also at the national level,” Jablon continued, “it would save every citizen tremendous amounts of money, and we would get health care that’s well beyond things that we get from insurance companies.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.