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Health Plan CEO for Massachusetts Governor?
By: John R. Graham
7.9.2009
With an announcement that will certainly have implications for the national debate on health reform, Charlie Baker, the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare, has announced that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Massachusetts. Gutsy move: He's a leader in the industry (health insurance) that 4 of 10 people believe is most responsible for increasing health costs, and "enjoys" a reputation as low as tobacco and oil companies.
More importantly, he was a key player in Governor Romney's reform that mandated universal health coverage, about which he was skeptical (as described very forthrightly in his blog). The media and voters are going to expect him to have some solutions to the health crisis.
Because of the likelihood of a national coverage mandate, and Mitt Romney's continuing presence as a presidential candidate, Baker the politician's views on health reform will be at least as interesting as Baker the health-plan CEO's.
— John R. Graham is director of Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute. This blog post originally appeared in National Review Online "The Corner."
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