MHA Calls For Leadership On Budget

BOSTON — Speaking before the House Ways & Means Committee at a hearing late last month, Mass. Hospital Assoc. President Ron Hollander used the opportunity to put forth a call for House leadership to address urgent health care issues in the Bay State.

Hollander cited the growing number of uninsured residents and the concurrent increases in government cost-shifting contained in Gov. Romney’s House 1 budget, saying, “support for health care says much about who we are and what we value as a society.”

The governor’s budget proposes slashing Medicaid payments to hospitals by $164 million, exacerbating the gap between state reimbursement and the actual cost of care, he said.
“What is at stake?” Hollander asked. “For those who continue to live without insurance, the answer is both dire and compelling. For the average person with coverage, these policies will be experienced through higher costs and longer waits for hospital services.”