Baker budget: Slash Medicaid to help close massive $1.8B gap | Boston Herald:
"The state is staring down a $1.8 billion budget gap entering next fiscal year, Gov. Charlie Baker will announce today when he unveils his first budget — a $38 billion proposal that includes deep cuts to the state’s Medicaid program but keeps his vow not to raise taxes.
The deficit, which Baker is expected to detail at an afternoon press conference, is driven in part by nearly a $1 billion in new net spending at MassHealth and exceeds even the projections of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which had pegged the total gap at $1.5 billion in recent weeks.
...To close the gap, Baker wants to slice $761 million from the mammoth state Medicaid program, including through a review of the eligibility of more than 1.2 million subscribers, which his budget team estimates will save $210 million.
...Among other health-care reforms, the governor proposes limiting opioid prescriptions to 14 days and not increasing reimbursement rates to nursing homes.
Baker’s budget also would eliminate payments for chiropractic services through the state program — the only benefit directly cut or reduced, aides said — which will amount to $300,000 in savings."
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