On Tuesday June 20, the Baker Administration submitted to the legislature a package of insurance reforms and assessments for inclusion in the FY2018 budget. The proposal represents the most recent plan aimed at curbing rising MassHealth costs following the “fair share assessments” included in the FY2018 budgets proposed by Governor Charlie Baker in January, the House of Representatives in April, and the Senate in May.

Most notably, the Administration’s proposal calls for an increase in the Employer Medical Assistance Contribution (EMAC) levied on employers through a two-tiered system, modifies the unemployment insurance rate schedule to decrease employer contributions, seeks to preclude MassHealth eligibility for non-disabled adults with access to affordable employer sponsored insurance, limits the number of similar drugs MassHealth covers for a particular condition, and adopts a series of commercial market reforms. The Administration says that all together the reforms will result in just over $100 million in net savings and $200 million in net revenue for FY2018.