40% of state budget goes for medical care

John Nunnari forwarded the following article from the State House News Service about the state Senate’s actions on the state budget.  What struck me was the figure that 40% of the state budget now goes for medical care.  I had heard Lida Harkins speak of it being about 33%, mainly for Medicaid (and of that mainly for nursing home care).  Approaching half our state budget for medical care certainly seems to squeeze out the many other needs.  Not how I would expect to allocate the state budget if I was creating it from scratch.

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MURRAY: SENATE BUDGET FEATURES MORE DIRECT LOCAL AID THAN HOUSE

By Michael Norton
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 16, 2012……There’s more direct local aid to cities and towns in the fiscal 2013 budget the Senate unveiled Wednesday than the $32.4 billion budget that cleared the House last month, according to Senate President Therese Murray.

The Senate budget will not lead to a reduction in municipal jobs, Murray said, and will dole out $900 million in unrestricted local aid, which she said should prevent any layoffs being contemplated.

During an appearance on WBZ-AM as the Senate Ways and Means Committee was unveiling its budget at the capitol, Murray touted investments in education and said the $32.275 billion Senate budget uses less money from the state’s rainy day fund than the House budget.

Committee members said the bill increases overall state spending 3.7 percent.

Because the constitution requires the House to initiate tax hikes and since the House did not embrace any, including candy, soda and tobacco taxes proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick, the Senate budget also does not include any new taxes. “We can’t add taxes to our budget so that will not be in there,” Murray said.

Murray voluntarily added that she would still buy a Snickers bar if its cost rose by a nickel. “I’m buying it,” she said, adding that she favors a “broader discussion” of taxes.

The budget addresses a $1.4 billion budget gap, she said, without detailing the steps proposed to close it.

The Senate budget will also keep 45 beds for people with mental illnesses open at Taunton Hospital, which the Patrick administration has targeted for closure as it opens a new hospital in Worcester.

Murray said about 40 percent of the spending in the budget is for health care, either for the poor, state employees or for prisoners, and said that big chunk of spending is one of the reasons why lawmakers are separately advancing legislation aimed at reducing the escalation in health care spending.

Explaining the increase in local aid, Murray said cities and towns are facing a spike in special education costs.  Murray also said the local aid, which totals in the billions of dollars, is not accompanied by state-imposed accountability checks but noted municipalities each have their own auditing procedures.

The Senate budget was built based on assessments of what is needed to maintain services, rather than on performance-based measures, but Murray expressed hope that the state will move closer to performance-based budgeting by adopting measures being negotiated by a six-member conference committee.

Murray said the budget will spend more on a State Police task force and take other steps to prevent welfare fraud. Murray said there will “always” be individuals who try to abuse public benefits, but said members of the Senate are “absolutely” as outraged as members of the public about reports of people taking advantage of the system.