Officials say state must address runaway MassHealth costs
As Gov. Charlie Baker faces increasing backlash to his
proposal to levy a new assessment on employers who do not meet certain
health insurance requirements, some are saying the state must find ways
to address runaway MassHealth costs and enrollment.
Baker's
proposal to impose a $2,000 per employee assessment on companies with
more than 10 full-time workers that fail to offer "adequate" health
insurance has run into stiff resistance in the business community. The
administration is reported to be discussing an alternative to impose a
smaller cost on a broader range of employers.
"We have to change the system, which means we have to change
the way health care is paid for," UMass Memorial Health Care president
and CEO Eric Dickson said. "I do support the governor starting a
conversation around that."
"We lose a lot of money on
Medicaid," he said. The UMass Memorial system includes several community
"disproportionate share hospitals" that see a higher number of public
payer patients, under its umbrella.
When the proportion
of MassHealth enrollees goes up, the health care network suffers
financially. "This is true for any health care provider," Dickson said.
"The only thing that is profitable to us is the commercial (payers)."
There
were 1.93 million people enrolled in MassHealth in fiscal 2017, an
all-time high. In an effort to temper enrollment rates, and with
MassHealth taking up 40 percent of the state budget, the Baker
administration proposed a $2,000 per employee assessment on companies
with 11 or more employees that do not offer health coverage or do not
insure at least 80 percent of their full-time employees.
The
proposal, filed in January with his fiscal 2018 budget plan, was met
with almost immediate resistance from business groups and leaders.
John
Stowe, president of Lutco Inc., a Worcester-based manufacturing
company, said his firm offers its employees a good health plan, but some
choose MassHealth instead.
