Mass. Passes Health Care for All Bill : OKd on Slim Margin; Dukakis Calls It a Model for Nation

The Massachusetts Legislature, meeting in a marathon session, delivered a first-in-the-nation universal health care bill to Gov. Michael S. Dukakis by a narrow margin early today.

The state House accepted a House-Senate compromise by a vote of 77 to 75, and the Senate did the same by an 18 to 15 margin. Those close votes came despite overwhelming Democratic majorities in both chambers.

Dukakis, who has frequently pointed to the health care plan as a national model during his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, has indicated support for the compromise. Legislative leaders said he could sign it as early as next week.

Health Coverage for All

Lawmakers adopted the plan to guarantee health insurance to all Massachusetts residents by 1992 after nearly nine months of intense legislative debate and negotiations with a host of special interests,

“It’s been very difficult,” Senate Ways and Means Chairman Patricia McGovern said. “It’s been the most difficult piece of legislation I have ever been involved with personally.”

But McGovern, who first proposed universal health care for the state more than a year ago, added, “I think it has the potential to be the most rewarding piece of legislation. It really is landmark. It is historic. It is breaking new ground.”

Lobbying Affected Vote

McGovern and House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Voke, who co-chaired the committee that reached the compromise, pointed to heavy lobbying from a multitude of special interests as the main factor in the close legislative voting.

Businesses, hospitals, insurers, labor unions and consumers all had concerns about the bill. As late as Tuesday, labor unions were upset by a provision that potentially could reduce public employee health care benefits by removing the issue from collective bargaining.

The health care bill sets Jan. 1, 1992, as the deadline for businesses to begin offering health insurance to their employees or begin paying a surcharge to the state so it can provide coverage to the state’s estimated 600,000 uninsured residents.

Republican opponents repeatedly warned that the bill would raise business costs, putting some out of business and discouraging expansion of others.