Rising health costs present challenge for budget writers
March 29, 2017
As legislative budget committees wrap up hearings on the governor’s $40.5 billion state revenue and spending recommendation for next year and release spending plans of their own, financing the state’s health insurance obligations remains a growing problem with no easy solutions.
The governor’s budget bill for fiscal 2018, filed in January, proposes $16.4 billion for the MassHealth (Medicaid) program funded from state revenues and federal reimbursements. This would represent roughly 40 percent of the state budget and an increase of nearly $1 billion over the expected level of spending for this year. It also reflects continued growth in enrollment in MassHealth programs that could approach 2 million participants next year.
The budget also proposes $1.6 billion to cover the cost of health insurance for state employees.
The governor’s bill includes a number of contentious health care cost containment provisions and health insurance-related revenues that are important to balancing the budget plan for next year without cuts in other areas or new revenues. This includes limits on coverage, caps on charges, and a fee on employers that do not provide health insurance or have low participation rates. The fee would provide an estimated $300 million in new revenue next year, according to the administration.
A hearing on education and municipal budget items for fiscal 2018 was held today in Amherst, where a panel of municipal officials provided testimony to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees. The MMA panel was led by Brookline Town Administrator and MMA President Mel Kleckner and Amherst Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer. The panel included Greenfield Mayor William Martin and Buckland Town Administrator Andrea Llamas.
The testimony focused on municipal priorities based on the budget and finance resolution approved by city and town leaders at the MMA’s Annual Business Meeting in January. Key priorities in the MMA’s written testimony are the increase in general municipal aid under the governor’s revenue-sharing plan and higher levels of school aid than what was recommended by the governor.
The MMA asked the Legislature to move more quickly than the governor has proposed on the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission to update the Chapter 70 school finance law to fully fund the account to mitigate the fiscal impact of charter schools on local public schools and to improve funding for other accounts.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to release its take on a state budget bill on April 12, with the House approving a plan by the end of the month. The Senate is expected to approve its budget bill by the end of May. The two branches will then reconcile the differences in the two bills, with the goal of getting a final budget bill enacted and sent to the governor in time for the July 1 start of the fiscal year.
The governor’s budget bill for fiscal 2018, filed in January, proposes $16.4 billion for the MassHealth (Medicaid) program funded from state revenues and federal reimbursements. This would represent roughly 40 percent of the state budget and an increase of nearly $1 billion over the expected level of spending for this year. It also reflects continued growth in enrollment in MassHealth programs that could approach 2 million participants next year.
The budget also proposes $1.6 billion to cover the cost of health insurance for state employees.
The governor’s bill includes a number of contentious health care cost containment provisions and health insurance-related revenues that are important to balancing the budget plan for next year without cuts in other areas or new revenues. This includes limits on coverage, caps on charges, and a fee on employers that do not provide health insurance or have low participation rates. The fee would provide an estimated $300 million in new revenue next year, according to the administration.
A hearing on education and municipal budget items for fiscal 2018 was held today in Amherst, where a panel of municipal officials provided testimony to a joint meeting of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees. The MMA panel was led by Brookline Town Administrator and MMA President Mel Kleckner and Amherst Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer. The panel included Greenfield Mayor William Martin and Buckland Town Administrator Andrea Llamas.
The testimony focused on municipal priorities based on the budget and finance resolution approved by city and town leaders at the MMA’s Annual Business Meeting in January. Key priorities in the MMA’s written testimony are the increase in general municipal aid under the governor’s revenue-sharing plan and higher levels of school aid than what was recommended by the governor.
The MMA asked the Legislature to move more quickly than the governor has proposed on the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission to update the Chapter 70 school finance law to fully fund the account to mitigate the fiscal impact of charter schools on local public schools and to improve funding for other accounts.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to release its take on a state budget bill on April 12, with the House approving a plan by the end of the month. The Senate is expected to approve its budget bill by the end of May. The two branches will then reconcile the differences in the two bills, with the goal of getting a final budget bill enacted and sent to the governor in time for the July 1 start of the fiscal year.
