Thursday, January 4, 2018

Health Care Industry Braces for State Budget Crunch



As state legislators return to Albany Wednesday, the health care industry groups that will be fighting for funding said they're worried that federal cuts will force the governor and the Legislature to make difficult choices.

"I expect that this year you'll see proposed cuts at a magnitude you haven't seen in years," said Paul Macielak, the outgoing president and CEO of the state Health Plan Association. Macielak retired at the end of last year, with Eric Linzer, the former executive vice president at the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, taking over.

One of the trade group's priorities in the upcoming session is urging the state to introduce measures that would stabilize the individual insurance market. Congress' tax-reform bill repealed the individual mandate, which required people to buy insurance or pay a fine. When the repeal takes effect in 2019, fewer people are expected to buy insurance, particularly healthier individuals whom insurers rely on to balance out the high health costs of their sicker members. 

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Source: CRAIN'S New York Business (via Empire Report New York)

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