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Boston's Morning Newsletter
What to know about Healey’s budget cuts to MassHealth’s fee-for-service payments and more
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Heading out today? Don’t forget to bring an umbrella. WBUR meteorologist Danielle Noyes says there will be some hard rain, maybe a little snow and definitely some high winds whipping through the state today and tomorrow. The storm will hit southwestern New England first by mid-afternoon and spread east through 6 p.m., so be careful on your evening commute.
Now, to the news:
Yesterday morning, Gov. Maura Healey unveiled $375 million in budget cuts for her state administration, a change made to help cover a $1 billion tax shortfall. Much of the cuts affect MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program — specifically, its fee-for-service payments, WBUR’s Walt Wuthmann and Todd Wallack report. Let’s look into the program, why the cuts are happening and what we know so far about what it means for you:
- What are fee-for-service payments? They’re payments to doctors and other clinicians for health care services provided to patients, like office visits, X-Ray scans or blood tests. MassHealth has been shifting away from a fee-for-service payment framework in favor of accountable care. That’s when payments to healthcare providers take other measures into account, like a patient’s health outcomes, not just the list of services provided.
- How many people will this change affect? It’s still unclear what percentage of MassHealth patients have elected to receive accountable care and which sectors of healthcare will be affected by the program’s $294 million in cuts. But according to the state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the budget cuts will not change MassHealth members eligibility to apply for care. The state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services also said MassHealth members will not be affected and its medical providers will not see rates paid to them change.
- Why are these budget cuts happening? For the past six months, tax collections in Massachusetts have fallen short of expectations. “Look, the economy is growing, it’s not growing as fast as we anticipated,” Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz said during a press conference. “And it’s resulting in us making some mid-year adjustments, which I think are both reasonable and expected.” You can read Walt and Todd ‘s full story here.
- The backdrop: These cuts come at a tricky time. Massachusetts is dealing with an emergency shelter funding crisis driven by a surge in unhoused families and migrants. In order to cover that program’s roughly $915 million funding gap, Healey has proposed tapping a surplus fund.
Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber, addressed the school’s polarized community yesterday for the first time since stepping into in his new role.
- In his letter, Garber expressed sadness over the loss of former president Claudine Gay and stated “it’s crucial that [Harvard] bridge the fissures that have weakened our sense of community.” He goes on to say he regrets the circumstances that made him president, but is looking forward to his time in the role.
- Go deeper: Garber, an economist, physician and provost, first joined Harvard in 1973 as an undergraduate and has since served under three of the school’s presidents. On the side, he serves as a board member of two pharmaceutical companies, and some have pointed it out as a possible conflict of interest.
As temperatures drop, Somerville has reopened its overnight winter warming center at The Armory at 191 Highland Ave. for those experiencing homelessness.
- The warming center will be open daily from 6:45 p.m. to 7 a.m., and is equipped to host up to 20 adults. Those who stay will have access to bathrooms, yoga mats, free meals and a safe place to sleep. The city will keep the warming center open all winter, through March 24.
- Heads up: The warming center is for adults only. For those with children, the city suggests calling the Somerville Office of Housing Stability to get more info on family resources and shelters.
Stay tuned: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will deliver her State of the City address tonight at 7 p.m. at the MGM Music Hall. Be sure to listen to 90.9 or check us out online for live coverage of the event.
P.S. — Is being “delulu” really the “solulu”? Follow as Endless Thread hosts Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson investigate manifestation, astrology and “signs from the universe” — and why, sometimes, these pseudosciences seem to strike us as truthful.
Editor's Note: This post was updated after the original newsletter was sent with newly released information from the state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
