Charlie Baker (R), Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, Discusses Healthcare Policy with David E. Williams

BOSTON - Feb. 25, 2014 - PRLog -- Massachusetts residents heading to the polls this November to cast their vote for the state’s next Governor can now visit the Health Business Blog at http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/2014/02/25/charlie-bake... to listen to and read David E. Williams’ one-on-one interview with Republican gubernatorial candidate and former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Charlie Baker.

Williams’ interview with Baker, which is the first in a series that will feature each of Massachusetts’ nine gubernatorial candidates, covered a variety of important healthcare topics including: healthcare reform, cost containment, price disparities, health information technology, children's health, Hepatitis C, and more. Some of Baker’s remarks are excerpted below.

On price disparities among hospital systems:

-- “Providers that do a good job at a reasonable price should be rewarded and given the public recognition they deserve for coming up with smarter, better, and more effective ways to provide care.”

--“The state has the ability to make the system more transparent right now, based on all the legislation that's been passed over the course of the past decade. The state should be a lot more aggressive about making that information publicly available. The public, frankly, has the right to know.”

On the potential to consolidate state agencies:

--“When we have a problem, we create a new agency. This approach has the effect of fragmenting a lot of the decision-making, a lot of the data collection, and a lot of the regulatory activity across multiple agencies.”

On the federal Affordable Care Act:

--“Massachusetts has done a good job of covering both its adults and its kids, but I worry about the impact these federal reform laws are going to have on the ability to continue the things that have worked here.”

Williams said, “I initiated this interview series to provide Massachusetts voters with an opportunity to hear Mr. Baker and the other candidates provide detailed views on healthcare issues, which are so central to this state.”

A complete, no-cost podcast of the interview is available for immediate download from Williams’ award-winning Health Business Blog at http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/2014/02/25/charlie-bake.... A transcript is also available.

Interviews with Massachusetts eight other gubernatorial candidates will be uploaded to the blog over the next three weeks.

For more information or media inquiries, contact David E. Williams via the Health Business Group (http://www.healthbusinessgroup.com/contact) or via Twitter (@HealthBizBlog).

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About the Health Business Blog:

The Health Business Blog is an award-winning weblog written by David E. Williams, president of the Health Business Group, a health care business strategy consulting firm. The blog has published more than 3,500 posts and 100 podcast interviews since 2005. http://www.healthbusinessblog.com and @HealthBizBlog

About the Health Business Group:

Health Business Group is a leading strategy consulting firm advising companies, non-profits and investors in health care services, health information technology, and pharmaceutical services. Client service professionals average more than 15 years of health care consulting, industry and start-up experience. For more information visit http://www.healthbusinessgroup.com