2023 MEDICARE FOR ALL HEARING
RALLY AND TESTIMONY GALLERY
There is still time to submit written testimony!
The chairs will continue to take written testimony past the hearing date. There is no word limit on written testimony.
There is technically no deadline to submit; however we strongly urge you to get in your testimony ASAP.
Written testimony is submitted simply by emailing the joint chairs. Please copy Mass-Care. Full instructions here.
Tuesday Nov. 14th: Mark Your Calendar
The Massachusetts Medicare for All bill will receive a hearing before the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on November 14th!
Check out the 1-hour training on How to Craft Effective Testimony:
LOGISTICS
The hearing is scheduled on Tuesday, November 14th from 10 AM to 1 PM in Room A-1 of the State House. Sen. Jamie Eldridge is inquiring if it can go longer if we have a lot of testifiers. Testimony will be taken in-person at the State House and also virtually. Our bill will be heard along with two other bills. The hearing will be live-streamed as well as archived on the Hearing's webpage. More details can be found in this document.
The Committee has until March 27, 2024 to report bills out. If a favorable report, our bills would go next to Ways & Means, then Bills in 3rd Reading.
There are 3 ways to testify:
- Submit Written Testimony
- Virtually (3 minutes)
- In-Person (3 minutes)
Please let Mass-Care know you will testify! Go to RSVP link or email legislation@masscare.org.
You must pre-register if testifying in-person or virtually. The registration link is here. Deadline to register to testify is 4:00PM, Thursday, Nov. 9th. The order of oral testimony is usually first registered/first called. We do not know if they will take testimony by bill (our two together) or on all bills at the same time.
Written Testimony
You can submit written as well as present orally. Your written testimony may be longer than your 3-minute oral testimony.
No need to register if only submitting written testimony, and there is technically no deadline to submit; however we strongly urge you to get in your testimony by the date of the hearing.
Written testimony is submitted simply by emailing the joint chairs. Please copy Mass-Care. Full instructions here.
DRAFTING EFFECTIVE TESTIMONY
Please watch the 1-hour training on How to Craft Effective Testimony at the top of this page. Here are some notes:
Why tell a personal story and not just use statistics?
- These legislators have been bombarded for years with statistics on this bill; Professor Jerry Friedman gives awesome testimony every year, and many others repeat the same testimony
- Ultimately, people power moves legislators; not just facts
- Stories move and stay with legislators longer than statistics
- They can’t argue with your life experience
- Puts the onus back on them as the People in Power - this is a crisis we are experiencing, it’s your job to fix it, rather than us making a case to save money, etc.
Structuring Testimony
- Introduce yourself to the Committee chairs - your name, city/town, any other affiliations
- Strong opening statement: name the bills and your support of them
- Tell your Personal Story
- Bring it back around to your support of the bill - “....and this is why i ask you to favorably report out H.1239 and/or S.744.”
Crating your Testimony
- Think about your experiences with the healthcare system. How have you been affected as a parent? As a provider? A family member? As a worker? Person of faith? Young person, etc.
- Could also be a positive experience with a different hc system!
Getting Feedback on Your Testimony
If you'd like, we can take a look at your testimony - submit your draft here.
RESOURCES
Resources to help you write your Testimony!