Governor Deval Patrick released his proposal for the state’s fiscal year 2013 budget, which sets the stage for the legislature to work out their own versions and come to an eventual agreement over the next six months.
The Governor’s budget does not include any projected increases or cuts for home health, as is the case with most programs (MassHealth Nursing Home Supplemental Rates are reduced from FY12 spending by more than $300 million in the Governor’s proposal). The MassHealth line items are almost all increased to “meet projected need,” which just translates to level funding. Here is a list of the line-items of note, including the MassHealth accounts.
- MassHealth Managed Care (line item 4000-0500) increased $183,988,029 over FY12 spending to $4,164,475,376
- MassHealth Senior Care (line item 4000-0600) increased $196,976,192 over FY12 spending to $2,763,630,662 .
- MassHealth Fee-for-Service Payments (4000-0700) increased $129,850,745 over FY12 spending to $1,939,680,126.
- Home Care Purchased Services (9110-1630) had a short increase just over $2,000 to $97,783,061.
- Elder Enhanced Home Care Services (9110-1500) increased $672,147 to $46,461,487 .
The Governor’s office provides more details on health care costs and reasoning for those decisions here. The Home Care Alliance will continue to provide more information as further analysis is completed. The Alliance will once again be advocating for line items of concern as the budget process moves forward, including on issues like payment rates and telehealth reimbursement from Medicaid.
For more general information, several articles from sources like Boston.com and MassLive.com are available that explain some of the Governor’s budget as well.
Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.
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