Pioneer's annual review of the Governor’s budget proposal.[...]

With its high cost and perverse incentives, Massachusetts’ unemployment insurance system is a job-killing machine. The reforms proposed by Governor Patrick are important steps in the right direction, but far more must be done to tame this beast.[...]

Today marks the 6th extension granted to the Commonwealth for the Medicaid waiver that serves as the foundation for our 2006 reform. I have written about this before here and here. As a review, the Massachusetts MassHealth 1115 waiver from the federal government allowed the 2006 health reform to become a reality financially. The waiver was last negotiated by the Patrick Administration in 2008, and was extended until June 30, 2011. From SHNS this morning ($): HIGH-STAKES MEDICAID TALKS DRAG ON: S[...]

Today the Legislature will vote on the final state budget. I wanted to take one last opportunity to highlight the unrealistic assumptions that are being used for the MassHealth (Medicaid) program. If the state is unable to achieve these “savings” and instead follows historic spending trends, it could be looking at a $900 million gap, just for MassHealth. For years, Medicaid costs have advanced robustly, at roughly 7% per year which is a big number given that it’s building on a base of billions. [...]