Mar 10, 2010

Patrick Attacks Baker On Insurance CostsBy TheBostonChannel.com

Boston – Gov. Deval Patrick launched his toughest attack on his Republican opponent on Wednesday, accusing Charlie Baker, former president of Harvard Pilgrim Health, for not doing more to keep health care costs down.

The attack comes as Patrick and the Legislature are being pummeled by small businesses that are angry about the double-digit increases in their insurance premiums.

Blackstones of Beacon Hill is a small gift shop run by two owners who said they can’t afford to hire anyone full time because of the cost of health insurance. Just to insure himself, owner Mark Duffield said it costs him $800 a month.

“We only have part-timers that come in when we need it. Jennifer and I basically run the business by ourselves,” he said.

“We’re forced to look only at people we can hire on the weekends because they have full time jobs somewhere else and they’re getting their insurance through somebody else,” Jennifer Hill said.

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