Massachusetts Acting Governor Meets With Governor-Elect To Discuss Proposed Health Cuts

Acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift (R) met Dec. 2 with Gov.-elect Mitt Romney (R) to discuss budgetary issues, including proposed funding cuts to home visits for elderly people, smoking cessation programs and a reduction in the state's Medicaid rolls, the Boston Globe reports (Ebbert, Boston Globe, 12/3). Swift had considered several cuts to health care programs, including a $9 million to a program providing home visits for women and their newborns, $6.5 million for home visits to elderly state residents and a $1 million to local health boards for smoking cessation programs (Abraham, Boston Globe, 11/27). However, in her continuing revision of state revenue and budget projections, Swift said she will now make $99 million in cuts, rather than $115 million, which she had proposed last week. State revenue rose by $16 million in November, prompting the governor to back away from funding reductions for the home visits and smoking cessation programs (Boston Globe, 12/3). However, Swift will still propose to Romney a plan to remove approximately 50,000 long-term unemployed state residents from MassHealth Basic, the state's Medicaid program for low-income adults, two months earlier than the state Legislature had approved. That move is expected to save the state $11 million (Boston Globe, 11/27). Swift said she will be "forced" to make such cuts because state lawmakers did not consider proposals, including a program that would require higher-paid state workers to contribute more toward their health insurance premiums, that would have given the state up to $50 million in additional funds (Beardsley, Boston Herald, 12/3). Some analysts said the state could face up to a $2 billion shortfall. If Romney agrees with Swift's proposed cuts, her administration is expected to move forward with the reductions later this week, the Globe reports (Boston Globe, 12/3).