Massachusetts Legislature Approves Budget That Would Eliminate Medicaid Coverage for 50,000 Residents

About 50,000 Massachusetts residents would lose Medicaid benefits under a budget approved July 19 by the state House and Senate, the Boston Globe reports. The budget plan for the current fiscal year would reduce funding for MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, by $54 million (Tran/Smith, Boston Globe, 7/20). The 50,000 people who would lose coverage under the approved budget are enrolled in MassHealth Basic, which provides health insurance to long-term unemployed individuals earning about $3,500 per year (Klein, Boston Globe, 7/19). Disagreement between House and Senate leaders over cuts to the program had been "bogging down" budget talks for the last six weeks; House leaders "insisted" on cutting Medicaid spending, while Senate leaders sought to preserve some of the program. Senate leaders, "desperate for a resolution, capitulated" to the House demands, the Boston Herald reports (Beardsley/Powell, Boston Herald, 7/19). State Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Mark Montigny (D) called the cut "disgusting" and said it was "worse than disappointing. It's demoralizing to those of us who are here to do more than crunch the numbers." Marcia Hams, deputy director of Health Care for All, a state health advocacy group, said the cut could "destabilize" hospitals because those who no longer have insurance will begin seeking care in emergency rooms (Boston Globe, 7/19). It is not clear whether the cut will stand, the Herald reports. Acting Gov. Jane Swift (R) has "adamantly opposed" cuts to the program and is reviewing the proposed budget deal (Boston Herald, 7/19).