House speaker puts pressure on new health care bill
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House Speaker Robert DeLeo with Gov. Charlie Baker.
For consumers, voters and industry insiders wondering when the House will unveil, debate and pass a major health care bill, the latest timeline from Speaker Robert DeLeo's office is "this session."
House and Senate leaders in 2017 laid aside savings proposals offered by Gov. Charlie Baker and intended to scale back the rate of growth in the state's massive MassHealth program, which perennially eats up most new discretionary revenue.
The Legislature and Baker did agree to new assessments on businesses to help the state pay the rising MassHealth costs, and employers are beginning to pay those new bills.
The Senate last year passed a health care bill that Baker cautioned could lead to cost increases.
Bills introduced deep in the session - formal meetings end this year on July 31 - could face a more bumpy road to final passage given the unpredictable nature of conference committees - panels that quietly reconcile House and Senate bills. Under a rule in play for this session, lawmakers are not allowed to appoint new conference committees after July 17.
House leaders involved in assembling a health care bill did not return phone calls seeking a status report on efforts. "The House continues to work on the health care bill with plans to take it up this session," a spokeswoman for House Speaker Robert DeLeo told the News Service in an email Thursday.
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