House rejects Baker's healthcare proposal, sticks with employer fees
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Describing it as a three-legged stool, House Minority Leader Brad Jones said it appears "the game plan is written" and speculated that lawmakers are on the verge of sending Gov. Charlie Baker $200 million in new employer health care fees and a reduction in a planned unemployment insurance (UI) rate hike, but not the MassHealth reforms Baker desires.
House leaders at about 1:20 p.m. introduced health care sections of the fiscal 2018 budget that Baker had returned with an amendment. Jones said he's been told that the MassHealth changes are not advancing because ""they're complicated, they're challenging" but said lawmakers should not shy away from serious debate on the state's largest program.
After debate, the House rejected Baker's proposal on a vote of 41-116 and then used a voice vote to adopt an amendment aimed at getting the fees and UI rate language back to Baker's desk. The Senate is in session awaiting the House plan.
Lawmakers held a nearly six-hour public hearing on Baker's proposal on Tuesday but it appears Democrats at the highest levels of the House and Senate were already in agreement on plans to turn down Baker's MassHealth changes.
Jones said lawmakers are mistakenly poised to take a "revenues first" approach by embracing new charges on employers and pushing off debate on MassHealth reforms until some point in the future.
House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jeff Sanchez said the Legislature's budget was balanced when it was sent to Gov. Charlie Baker and reduced spending below levels initially recommended by the House and Senate.
It was "abundantly clear" from testimony Tuesday that there is uncertainty about the impacts of the governor's plan on low-income individuals, Sanchez said, calling Massachusetts "a leader in controlling costs" and saying his committee is actively looking at health care policies.
"This is not the end of our health care debate," said Sanchez, noting the Legislature had lowered the employer fees from levels initially recommended by Baker.
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