Massachusetts Governor Vetoes Bill To Restore Documented Immigrants’ Health Coverage

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would have used surplus funds to restore health coverage to 2,500 seriously ill and elderly documented immigrants, the Boston Globe reports (Rhor, Boston Globe, 11/28). MassHealth, Massachusetts' Medicaid program, ended the coverage for documented immigrants in August because the state could not afford to pay a projected $15 million for their care this year. Massachusetts had paid the entire cost of documented immigrants' benefits since 1996. The federal government does not require states to cover documented immigrants and does not provide states matching funds to cover care for documented immigrants. Coverage was retained for documented immigrants' emergency department care and for children, seniors and nursing home residents (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/11). The legislation would have used funds from the state's MassHealth Essential program to restore the cut coverage (Boston Globe, 11/28). MassHealth Essential was launched in October and is expected to eventually cover 36,000 adults, many of whom lost coverage under MassHealth Basic. To qualify for MassHealth Essential, adults must have annual incomes up to $9,000, about $3,000 less than the income eligibility limit for MassHealth Basic (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/2). Currently, there are 12,000 people enrolled in MassHealth Essential; however, Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesperson for Romney, said the administration does not project a budget surplus for the program. Fehrnstrom added that Romney vetoed the legislation because the state faces a $1.5 billion to $2 billion deficit next year. State Sen. Mark Montigny (D) said that state lawmakers might be able to override the veto (Boston Globe, 11/28).

Massachusetts Hospitals See Rise in Uninsured
In related news, the Boston Globe on Friday examined the growing number of uninsured patients at hospitals and health centers throughout Massachusetts. Some hospitals have experienced increases of about 30% in uninsured patients compared with last year. At Dorchester, Mass.-based Codman Square Health Center, spending on uninsured patients increased 40% during the past six months, and according to William Walczak, the hospital's chief executive, "nearly all of the growth has come from among people who have jobs," the Globe reports. The rise in the number of uninsured comes after changes to Medicaid that reduced enrollment by 70,000 this year and rising health insurance costs, which have prompted some employers to drop coverage or increase workers' share of cost. While the state has offered hospitals more charity care funds this year, "health specialists are less confident that the money will be there" in the future, according to the Globe (Stein, Boston Globe, 11/28).