Legislative Update
On Beacon Hill…
Update FY 2005 State Budget Update… Governor Romney signed the FY 2005 budget
in late June, and the legislature completed its formal work for the year on July
31, overriding several of Governor Romney’s vetoes.
The FY 05 budget contains significant improvements for health care over previous
fiscal years, outlined below:
Medicaid
• Restored $90 million in rate cuts to hospitals proposed by Governor Romney
back in January.
• Eliminated MassHealth enrollment caps.
• Restored coverage for 3,000 elderly and disabled immigrants and HIV-positive
individuals up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Funded health care coverage for the MassHealth Basic Population.
• Funded the Children’s Medical Security Plan (DPH) to eliminate the
waiting list.
Uncompensated Care Pool
• Dedicated $640 million for hospitals —a $200 million increase over
the governor’s recommendation for FY 05; the Legislature overrode the governor’s
veto that would have reduced this by $25 million.
• Allocated $42 million to community health centers.
• Established a Disease Management Pilot to reduce ED utilization for patients
with chronic illness.
Medical Malpractice Liability Reform
• Revises the interest rate on certain judgments from the current 12 percent
to the one-year Treasury rate plus four percent.
• Establishes a separate task force to study reforms to the current medical
malpractice system.