On Monday, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means held its 7th hearing to review Governor Healey’s state Fiscal Year 2026 H.1 budget recommendation, focusing on the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) department budgets, including MassHealth.
The Committee’s hearings are being held in a period where federal support for state budgets is at serious risk under the Trump Administration. EOHHS Secretary Kate Walsh in her presentation to the Committee, emphasized that Congress is considering proposals that would likely translate into billions of dollars of cuts for MassHealth next year and will force some extremely difficult choices on legislators and the Administration. Assistant Secretary for MassHealth Michael Levine further noted that potential Medicaid funding cuts under consideration at the federal level include restricting state use of provider taxes to finance state Medicaid costs, capping Medicaid funding on a per capita basis and implementing new Medicaid work requirements.
Mass Senior Care offered testimony urging a $280 million investment in nursing facility care in order to fully implement the resident care and workforce requirements contained in the Long Term Care reform law (Chapter 197 of the Acts of 2025). As legislators enter the final stages of crafting the FY2026 budget recommendations and with intense competition for state funding amidst ongoing federal funding uncertainties, it is crucial that we act now. We therefore urge you, your residents, their family members, and staff to please call your facility’s elected officials and thank them for protecting access to quality nursing facility care, and respectfully urge them to support in the FY2026 budget the $280 million necessary to implement Chapter 197 of the Acts of 2024. Call your legislators today by clicking here.