Baker: Health care bill costly to Mass. residents

BOSTON (AP) — The health care bill proposed by U.S. Senate Republican leaders would result in 264,000 Massachusetts residents losing their insurance and have a cumulative financial impact on the state of more than $8.2 billion by 2025, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker warned Monday.

Baker unveiled his administration's latest analysis in a letter addressed to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and sent to each member of the state's all-Democratic congressional delegation.

"Overall, our analysis indicates that the (Senate bill) would increasingly strain the state's fiscal resources, result in greater numbers of individuals without insurance and destabilize the commercial insurance market," the governor wrote.

Under the GOP proposal, Baker writes that the state would lose $907 million in 2020, with the annual fiscal impact climbing to $1.7 billion in 2024.

The Senate bill, which would repeal and replace key portions of the Affordable Care Act, would have less of a financial impact on Massachusetts in the first few years than an earlier version of the bill passed by the U.S. House, Baker noted, but the consequences of the Senate bill would become more severe after 2020.

The state's congressional delegation needs little convincing on the issue from the governor. Both Warren and Democratic Sen. Edward Markey have been outspoken in their opposition to the GOP bill, and all nine House members voted against the bill that passed in that chamber.