Gov. Baker Pushes Lawmakers For MassHealth Reform

On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker signed off on the state's nearly $40 billion budget, but sent back to lawmakers proposals to reform the state's Medicaid program, MassHealth.

In June, Baker announced a suite of proposals to rein in MassHealth spending — including shifting 140,000 low-income people from MassHealth onto commercial insurance plans. Those cost-curbing measures were rejected by lawmakers in their final budget.

Now, the governor has given them a two month deadline to take another look at his reforms, or face additional budget cuts elsewhere.

Jim Welch, Massachusetts state senator representing Hampden District and senate chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. He tweets @sen_jim_welch.

Josh Archambault, senior fellow on health care policy at the Pioneer Institute. He tweets @josharchambault.