GOV SLASHES $320M IN BUDGET OK
Sets up a battle with the Legislature
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday signed a $39.4 billion budget for fiscal 2018 after he vetoed $320 million in spending, throwing the plan back to the House and Senate for potential override votes.
Baker’s vetoes went even further than House and Senate budget negotiators to revise tax revenue projections downward for this year by $749 million. The Democrat-controlled Legislature had approved what would be the state’s first budget in excess of $40 billion — 10 days ago.
The governor also returned to the Legislature a new assessment on employers that he initially proposed to help pay for growing MassHealth expenses, calling on lawmakers to act quickly to package the $200 million in new employer fees with MassHealth reforms that lawmakers laid aside during budget deliberations.
One option would boost a per-employee assessment paid by employers, known as the Employer Medical Assistance Contribution, from $51 to $77 per year. The second would hit employers with penalties of up to $750 per employee if their workers choose MassHealth even though they have access to insurance through their employers.
Baker wants the Legislature to package those assessments, plus a freeze in unemployment insurance rate increases also approved by lawmakers, with a five-year moratorium on new health insurance mandates, the transition of hundreds of thousands of enrollees from MassHealth into subsidized, no-premium health plans offered through the Connector and expanded scope of practice for new mid-level dental therapy providers.
The administration, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore, will also seek through the budget amendment to get permission to pursue a federal waiver to erect a “gate” blocking fulltime workers with access to affordable employersponsored health coverage from being eligible for MassHealth.
Lepore said that without the assessments and MassHealth reforms, the budget signed by Baker will have a $350 million hole that would require adjustments in spending, including the possibility of future midyear budget cuts.
Baker is essentially using the threat of future spending reductions as leverage for a deal over MassHealth reforms. He is asking for a hearing on his budget amendment within 30 days, and his proposal arrives in the House amid shakeups in leadership positions dealing with the budget and health care.