As the agency navigates how to minimize coverage losses, cope with federal funding cuts and keep MassHealth members informed, the 2026 Medicaid Summit on Tuesday brought together state government policy experts and researchers from around the country to make sense of the impacts of the nearly one-year-old federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
MassHealth
Posted inState House News Service
Doula certification effort set for launch this spring
“The Department of Public Health is working with MassHealth to implement more than 20 provisions within the 2024 maternal health law designed to bolster access to services and tackle racial disparities in care outcomes.”
Posted inState Government
Growing health care pressure drives up spending in Healey’s annual budget
MassHealth spending would increase more than 7 percent under Gov. Maura Healey’s new state budget proposal, roughly twice as much as all other state spending in a reflection of the challenge Beacon Hill faces to control health care costs.
Posted inState Government
Legislature downshifts into holiday mode after short burst of activity
What reached Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, and what’s still on hold until 2026 now that the Legislature is done with major business for the year?
Posted inOpinion
I don’t want to close any more mental health centers
The cost of operating our clinic with optimal staffing simply exceeded by a wide margin the amount we received from insurers – largely the state Medicaid program MassHealth – to operate it.
Posted inThe Download
The Download: ‘We are terrified’: Gateway City leaders prepare for federal cuts, changes to Medicaid
New from CommonWealth Beacon OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS?: Hidden among the cuts to social welfare programs in President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill was a provision that builds on “Opportunity Zones” — an […]
Posted inHealth Care
HHS chief Walsh stepping down, Mahaniah named successor
After a more than two-year tenure in which she charted the state’s path through the tumultuous Steward Health Care collapse, Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh will step down.
Posted inOpinion
Tallying the crucial impact of Medicaid in Massachusetts
Medicaid provides coverage to over 1 in 4 Massachusetts residents, playing a vital role in our state’s health care system and the strength of our economy.
Posted inHealth Care
‘Pay now or pay greater later’: Mass. health centers CEO warns Medicaid cuts will lead to higher costs and strain to health system
Thirty percent of the Massachusetts population (2.1 million residents out of 7.1 million) are on Medicaid.
Posted inHealth Care
Speaker Johnson sends signals on two key Medicaid reforms
Johnson told reporters that the bill will not change the portion of state Medicaid costs paid by the federal government for states that have expanded Medicaid, like Massachusetts.
Posted inHealth Care
State braces for MassHealth dislocation
AS THE STATE prepares to drop hundreds of thousands of people from the MassHealth insurance program, government and community leaders are hoping for a smooth year-long process – but bracing […]
Posted inHealth Care
Somerville rep concerned about ‘draconian’ MassHealth asset recovery policies
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT allows states to recoup Medicaid costs after the deaths of patients who use the program. Estate recovery allows homes to be seized and sold to pay off […]
Posted inEconomy
Safety net hospitals, health centers teetering on the brink
DR. ERIC DICKSON oversees a sprawling health care system that cares for lots of low-income families throughout central Massachusetts, many of whom are wondering how they’ll pay their rent or […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing homes shutter amidst corruption, financial chaos
NURSING HOMES IN MASSACHUSETTS continue their steady descent into chaos, leaving seniors struggling to find adequate care as more facilities shutter, and fewer affordable beds are available. Five nursing homes […]
Posted inThe Download
Nursing homes shutter amidst corruption, financial chaos
Nursing homes in Massachusetts continue their steady descent into chaos, leaving seniors struggling to find adequate care as more facilities shutter, and fewer affordable beds are available. Five nursing homes […]
Posted inThe Download
Nursing home industry sounds alarm
The Massachusetts nursing home industry says inadequate state funding caused 20 facilities to close last year and is putting another 39 at risk of going out of business this year. […]
Posted inOpinion
Do no harm on health care spending
WHEN THE LEGISLATURE reconvenes and takes up the unresolved challenge of shoring up the bottom lines of financially stressed community hospitals, lawmakers would do well to keep in mind the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Past time to get serious about health care costs
LAST SEPTEMBER, Pioneer observed that Massachusetts had dodged a federal bullet when the US Senate failed by one vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Had they succeeded, the Commonwealth […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Getting to yes on MassHealth
MASSACHUSETTS HAS A unique culture when it comes to health care. Over the last quarter century, we have seen the business, provider, payer, consumer, and academic sectors come together to […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Baker won’t commit to health care assessments
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said Monday he has not yet decided whether he will sign off on $200 million in new employer fees he has linked to […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Senate budget pinned on shaky revenue projections
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS Committee members on Tuesday unanimously approved a $40.3 billion spending plan for fiscal 2018 that they said recognizes the state does not […]
Posted inHealth Care
Clawbacks threaten mental health services
IMAGINE BEING WORRIED sick, struggling to find a mental health clinician to treat your 12-year-old child who is so anxious that he has not been able to go to school […]
Posted inHealth Care
Red states dodge a Medicaid bullet
REPUBLICANS IN WASHINGTON couldn’t cobble together enough votes in March from their own party to repeal and replace Obamacare. President Trump learned that health care is more complicated than he […]
Posted inHealth Care
Bending the Medicaid cost curve
IN A WILDLY uncertain national health care environment, something new, audacious, and risky is happening in MassHealth, the Medicaid program that provides health coverage to 1.9 million people who are […]
