Massachusetts Lawmakers Consider Proposals to Increase Medicaid Funding for Hospitals

Massachusetts lawmakers have proposed several plans to provide more state money for hospitals "struggling" with "financial pressures," the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Among the "most aggressive" is a proposal from state Sen. Stephen Brewer (D) that Massachusetts use $100 million of its $518 million budget surplus to "help defray $226.5 million in underpayments from Medicaid." A study by the Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm, found that Massachusetts' Medicaid program currently reimburses hospitals 71 cents for every dollar of care provided. In a letter to acting Gov. Jane Swift (R) outlining the plan, Brewer said, "Our hospitals cannot remedy this situation alone, and it is imperative that the Legislature gives its support." For her part, Swift has proposed spending $64 million on hospitals in the "regular state budget," including $40 million to increase Medicaid payments and $20 million to provide nursing scholarships and other services intended to encourage more people to become nurses. "We've filed our budget. The ball is in (the Legislature's) court now," Swift spokesperson Sarah Magazine said. In its budget plan, the state Senate has proposed "a Medicaid plan worth $35 million," while the state House has included no budget proposal to assist hospitals. The three proposed budgets are currently before a conference committee. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Hospital Association has asked in the short term for "at least $75 million in relief" this year and in the long term for a "reconfiguration" of the Medicaid reimbursement formula (Bodor, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 7/11).