While healthcare is expected to continue to be discussed when Congress reconvenes in September, some state governments are taking steps of their own to shore up the Affordable Care Act impact on healthcare services at the state level.
For example, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker this month signed House Bill 3822 into law. The bill is expected to raise $200 million to increase funding for MassHealth, the state’s initiative to provide healthcare to lower income families and individuals (both under Medicaid), children (under CHIP) and the disabled. The program provides healthcare to 1.9 million residents at an annual cost of about $16 billion.
Under the Further Regulating Employer Contributions To Health Care bill, starting in 2018, the employer medical assistance contribution (EMAC) to MassHealth will increase from $55 to $77 per employee. A new $750 fine will be assessed on employers for each non-disabled worker receiving health benefits through MassHealth or the Massachusetts Health Connector. This is in recognition of the increasing enrollment in MassHealth by workers who either do not receive health insurance from employers or who are offered employer healthcare insurance that is not as generous as options offered through MassHealth.
Governor Baker, as part of the bill, had asked for a series of changes to MassHealth eligibility rules to reduce costs by $150 million in order to reduce the financial burden on employers, but the changes were not adopted by the state legislature. He signed the bill anyway at the urging of lawmakers concerned with the state healthcare program’s sustainability. “They’re acutely aware of the fact that if we can’t come up with a way to manage this program effectively and continue to cover people here in the Commonwealth, it will crowd out opportunities to invest in education, in transportation and other areas that are important,” the Governor was quoted in an article on MassLive.com.
Some in the state’s business community are not enthusiastic about the new bill. “Yet again Beacon Hill has found a way to penalize the business community,” Chris Carlozzi, Massachusetts director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, was quoted in the Greenfield Recorder. “It’s incredibly disappointing to learn that all substantive reforms have fallen by the wayside and a tax on job creators in Massachusetts will remain.”