Massachusetts Spent $213M on Subsidized Care for Employed State Residents and Dependents in 2005, Study Says
Massachusetts in fiscal year 2005 spent $213 million on health care for employed state residents and their dependents who are enrolled in MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, or who received charity care at hospitals through the state's Uncompensated Care Pool, according to a report by the state Office of Health and Human Services, the Boston Globe reports. The report, which is required under a 2004 law, ranks employers with more than 50 employees covered by MassHealth and details state expenditures for health care for those employees. According to the report, about 160,000 employed state residents and their dependents are covered by MassHealth. Wal-Mart, which employs 2,866 workers who received care through MassHealth or UCP, has more employees receiving subsidized care than any other employer ranked in the report. Stop & Shop Supermarket, which employs more than 24,000 state residents, ranked second on the list with 2,737 employees receiving subsidized care. Some who chose to receive subsidized care had access to subsidized health insurance plans through their employer. Tim Murphy, state Secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement, "This study demonstrates a broken health care system. We need to ensure that both employers and employees act responsibly." He added, "The study reaffirms plans by [Gov. Mitt Romney (R)] and the Legislature to create a mechanism for low-wage part-time workers to purchase affordable health insurance through their employer." John McDonough, executive director of Health Care For All, said the $213 million in expenditures cited in the report is about four times more than the amount cited in last year's report. Robert Keane, a spokesperson for Stop & Shop, said in a statement that Stop & Shop spends nearly $55 million annually "on excellent medical, dental, prescription and vision coverage for our workforce" (Krasner, Boston Globe, 2/2).
The report is available online.
