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Romney rebuffed on health proposal
Bid rejected to cut employers' fees
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | March 15, 2006
Democratic legislative leaders rejected a last-ditch effort yesterday by Governor Mitt Romney and his allies to water down a proposed business assessment that would help pay for a comprehensive healthcare bill, a move that would have rescued Romney from a politically difficult decision on whether to veto the legislation.
Romney allies had hoped to persuade healthcare negotiators to reduce or eliminate a $62-per-worker fee on companies that already provide health insurance to their workers. The bill also would impose a $295-per-employee annual fee on companies that have more than 10 workers and do not provide coverage to their workers.
The governor, who has made a point of opposing tax increases, expressed concern that the Democrats' health plan could be construed as a tax or a broad-based fee rather than an assessment. The Democrats' plan would raise up to $48 million to help pay for what they call near-universal coverage, but Romney wants the business assessment restructured so that it does not raise new revenue, according to four Beacon Hill sources familiar with the negotiations.
The healthcare bill, long sought by Romney and Democratic legislative leaders, would add some heft to his resume in the event he runs for president. Backers say it would eventually provide coverage for most of the state's 500,000 to 600,000 uninsured and would be a ground-breaking program nationally.
But, in considering the bill, Romney also must be sensitive to the antitax sentiment that runs strongly through the Republican presidential landscape.
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, in an interview in his office yesterday, rejected Romney's suggested changes. He pointed out that, in a major breakthrough in their negotiations on the bill two weeks ago, he and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini agreed to include a $295-per-employee fee for companies that do not provide health insurance and to retain the $62-per-worker fee that all companies are charged under the current system.
''That's what we agreed on," said DiMasi, who said that he had not been presented with any formal proposal by the administration for a change. ''The terms and the parameters of the agreement had already been set."
Other negotiators who are working out the final details of the legislation said that the Romney proposal was also rejected by the Senate leadership.
Travaglini told reporters yesterday that the bill is near completion. ''The biggest obstacle that we're left with is just fine-tuning the language and the definitions and preparing it for debate on the floor," he said.
Senate minority leader Brian Lees, taking the administration's position, made a pitch yesterday to Democrats to accept Romney's plan for reducing the assessments on businesses that provide health coverage, lawmakers said. The assessment is designed to charge companies for the state-paid medical services that their uninsured workers received from the so-called free care pool.
Reached late yesterday, Lees, who serves on the House-Senate conference committee working on the bill, said he would not comment because the negotiations are confidential. ''This has been a long and arduous process, and all views have been expressed at the conference meeting," said the East Longmeadow Republican.
Romney said Monday that he has made no decision on whether he would sign the healthcare overhaul and will wait to see what emerges from the conference committee.
''I'm going to see how this is characterized as it's related to use by employees of the free care pool -- is it instead something that looks like a broad-based fee? -- and I think how I will react to it will depend in part on how it's applied and to whom," the governor said after a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
One of the major provisions in the governor" version, a mandate that individuals be required to carry health insurance, has been accepted by the lawmakers.
By late yesterday, House and Senate negotiators finished deciding the last major details of the bill, though it still must be written into formal legislation. It is expected to be reported to the House floor by next week. Lawmakers predict that a final version will be on Romney's desk by late next week or early the following week.
With overwhelming Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and the support of both leaders in the Legislature, it appears likely that lawmakers could override a veto of the bill if Romney were to reject it. In addition to vastly expanding coverage, the bill is designed to preserve $385 million in federal Medicaid funds the state receives annually.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, including the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, have helped broker the deal for the business assessment. Key figures in the negotiations included Peter Meade, the president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and John Connors, the chairman of Partners Health Care System.
Romney has support from some business groups that have advocated reducing or eliminating the $62-per-employee assessment on businesses that provide health coverage. They are critical of the influential role that insurers and hospitals, who stand to receive millions of dollars under the healthcare bill, have played in the Beacon Hill negotiations.
Bid rejected to cut employers' fees
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | March 15, 2006
Democratic legislative leaders rejected a last-ditch effort yesterday by Governor Mitt Romney and his allies to water down a proposed business assessment that would help pay for a comprehensive healthcare bill, a move that would have rescued Romney from a politically difficult decision on whether to veto the legislation.
Romney allies had hoped to persuade healthcare negotiators to reduce or eliminate a $62-per-worker fee on companies that already provide health insurance to their workers. The bill also would impose a $295-per-employee annual fee on companies that have more than 10 workers and do not provide coverage to their workers.
The governor, who has made a point of opposing tax increases, expressed concern that the Democrats' health plan could be construed as a tax or a broad-based fee rather than an assessment. The Democrats' plan would raise up to $48 million to help pay for what they call near-universal coverage, but Romney wants the business assessment restructured so that it does not raise new revenue, according to four Beacon Hill sources familiar with the negotiations.
The healthcare bill, long sought by Romney and Democratic legislative leaders, would add some heft to his resume in the event he runs for president. Backers say it would eventually provide coverage for most of the state's 500,000 to 600,000 uninsured and would be a ground-breaking program nationally.
But, in considering the bill, Romney also must be sensitive to the antitax sentiment that runs strongly through the Republican presidential landscape.
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, in an interview in his office yesterday, rejected Romney's suggested changes. He pointed out that, in a major breakthrough in their negotiations on the bill two weeks ago, he and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini agreed to include a $295-per-employee fee for companies that do not provide health insurance and to retain the $62-per-worker fee that all companies are charged under the current system.
''That's what we agreed on," said DiMasi, who said that he had not been presented with any formal proposal by the administration for a change. ''The terms and the parameters of the agreement had already been set."
Other negotiators who are working out the final details of the legislation said that the Romney proposal was also rejected by the Senate leadership.
Travaglini told reporters yesterday that the bill is near completion. ''The biggest obstacle that we're left with is just fine-tuning the language and the definitions and preparing it for debate on the floor," he said.
Senate minority leader Brian Lees, taking the administration's position, made a pitch yesterday to Democrats to accept Romney's plan for reducing the assessments on businesses that provide health coverage, lawmakers said. The assessment is designed to charge companies for the state-paid medical services that their uninsured workers received from the so-called free care pool.
Reached late yesterday, Lees, who serves on the House-Senate conference committee working on the bill, said he would not comment because the negotiations are confidential. ''This has been a long and arduous process, and all views have been expressed at the conference meeting," said the East Longmeadow Republican.
Romney said Monday that he has made no decision on whether he would sign the healthcare overhaul and will wait to see what emerges from the conference committee.
''I'm going to see how this is characterized as it's related to use by employees of the free care pool -- is it instead something that looks like a broad-based fee? -- and I think how I will react to it will depend in part on how it's applied and to whom," the governor said after a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
One of the major provisions in the governor" version, a mandate that individuals be required to carry health insurance, has been accepted by the lawmakers.
By late yesterday, House and Senate negotiators finished deciding the last major details of the bill, though it still must be written into formal legislation. It is expected to be reported to the House floor by next week. Lawmakers predict that a final version will be on Romney's desk by late next week or early the following week.
With overwhelming Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and the support of both leaders in the Legislature, it appears likely that lawmakers could override a veto of the bill if Romney were to reject it. In addition to vastly expanding coverage, the bill is designed to preserve $385 million in federal Medicaid funds the state receives annually.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, including the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, have helped broker the deal for the business assessment. Key figures in the negotiations included Peter Meade, the president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and John Connors, the chairman of Partners Health Care System.
Romney has support from some business groups that have advocated reducing or eliminating the $62-per-employee assessment on businesses that provide health coverage. They are critical of the influential role that insurers and hospitals, who stand to receive millions of dollars under the healthcare bill, have played in the Beacon Hill negotiations.