Jobless Health Fund Assessment Rises 33 Percent
A state board has voted to increase the contributions businesses must make to a fund that provides health insurance to the unemployed, according to the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which criticized the move.
The Unemployment Health Insurance Rate Review Board has voted to raise the assessment from $50.40 per employee to $67.20 per employee, a 33-percent increase, in an attempt to close a $148 million deficit.
It's the second increase in two years. The board voted a year ago to raise the rate from $33.60 to the current $50.40, a 50-percent increase.
AIM Vice President Brad MacDougall wrote in a post to AIM's blog that the state's Medical Security Trust fund would still be healthy if the state had not diverted $209 million over the past 11 years to close budget deficits.
AIM has supported legislation that would eliminate the fund. The group argues that the fund duplicates services provided under the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform law.
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