Obamacare fee to cost Mass. $162M over 10 years, study finds
A new study from the Pioneer Institute found an Affordable Care Act fee will cost Mass. taxpayers $162 million over 10 years.
Expanding health care in Massachusetts under the new federal health insurance law will cost taxpayers in the commonwealth at least $162 million over the next decade, according to a new report from a Boston think tank.
The study from the Pioneer Institute released today examined the potential impacts of the Health Insurer Provider Fee, an Affordable Care Act fee used to help pay for the expansion of Medicaid to people with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, as required by the ACA.
The fee will cost Massachusetts a total of $324 million over the next decade, although half of that will be reimbursed by the federal government, according to the study. The higher costs will take away from public funds that could be used elsewhere, said Josh Archambault, a senior fellow at Pioneer.
MassHealth contracts managed care entities (MCEs) to extend insurance coverage, who then pay the fee to the federal government. The state is then reimbursed for half the cost and pays that plus the remaining balance back to the MCE.
The fee cost the state $36 million in 2015, according to the study. It was waived for 2017, but collection is scheduled to resume in 2018.
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