Newburyport Chamber of Commerce

     Last week, I was a panelist at a Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry breakfast. The topic was: Healthcare Reform Has Passed. Does that put us all in the breakdown lane? David Morales, Commissioner of the Division of Health Care Finance & Policy (DHCFP) and George Ellison, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Anna Jaques Hospital, rounded out the panel.
     So are we in the breakdown lane? Not yet – but we have to drive carefully.  Winter is coming, national health reform is here and the pavement will be slick.  Not to overdo the analogy, but the 2006 Massachusetts health plan paved the way for national health care reform. And, as the Bay State now tries to deal with tough cost containment issues, we’re running into potholes.
• The good news is that Massachusetts has the highest rate of health insurance coverage in the country – at 97.5%. (The national average is 83%.)
• The bad news is that Massachusetts' health care costs exceed the national average by 15–27% per person.
• More tough news is that health insurance costs for a family of four now equal that same family’s mortgage payment.
• Better news is that we probably have all the data we need to put the brakes on costs. We just need the political will to do it.

The event was held at Michael’s Harborside in Newburyport.  Here is a view from the deck of the Merrimack River just after sunrise.

Commissioner David Morales introducing what DHCFP is all about.

The panelists chat with Delia O'Connor, president of Anna Jaques Hospital.



Grabbing coffee before grabbing attention with candid conversation!

George Ellison and David Morales.

State House Column

Summer Spectacular! Take the time to drive down Scotland Road in Newbury and check out the Colby Farm’s sunflower field. It says it all about this spectacular summer. (A couple preview photos follow.)

Formally Done. As of midnight July 31st, formal legislative sessions were over. Technically, this means that controversial legislation will not move until the start of a new legislative session. (A special session could be convened if both branches agree. That’s unlikely.) Actually, the end of formal sessions means the end of roll calls. A good deal of business gets done in twice-weekly informal sessions. Everyone thinks that legislators have gone on vacation –some have, but not all.

So, just what did the House do in the last couple of frenzied weeks? Not enough.

Missed Opportunities. Legislators can point to some late-session successes – with bills addressing municipal relief, pension reform, and economic development. Both branches also settled for measures that didn’t go far enough.

One of those was health care reform. Potential premium relief was made available to small business owners through legislation passed at the 11th hour. The bill was said to provide “10% savings” to small business owners, but nothing was put in place to measure those supposed “savings.” If health insurance premiums drop by 10% in March 2011, then the plan worked. If they don’t…

BTW, Rep. Stanley voted against the bill because it avoided the real issues.

The larger issue of payment reform (meaning how to control exponential increases in health insurance policy costs for everybody) was not addressed. Why? Because reform measures were considered to be too “contentious” in an election year. Rep. Stanley disagreed with that decision, too. Premium payments are due every year, whether there is an election or not.

To make matters worse, Medicaid savings initiatives were ignored. Medicaid is the largest and fastest growing part of the state budget and has been for years. It wasn’t time to take a pass on saving $100 million.

“May” vs. “Shall” - The Pen is Mightier than the Sword. The biggest blown bill of the session was gambling. While the Governor, Senate and House agreed on casinos, the sticking point was over slot machines.

In the end, guaranteeing slot machines to the racetracks derailed much of the session.

Debate dragged on between the House and Senate to find the middle ground on slots. The branches eventually compromised on allowing slots at two of the four Massachusetts racetracks in a closed bidding process.

Governor Patrick wanted no slots at all. However, his compromise was to allow one slots location with an open bidding process.

The Legislature’s 127-page Gaming Conference Report was finally filed on Friday, July 30th, to be voted on in less than 24 hours. It included provisions for slots at two racetracks and Governor Patrick was dared to veto it. Essentially, he did.

Amazingly, though, the Senate President got the last laugh.

Seemingly unknown to House members drafting language for the compromise bill, the regulatory commission created to oversee the licensing of slots was authorized that it “may” issue not more than two slot machine licenses.

The proper word was “shall.” Murray was quick to bring this to the Governor’s attention. Within 90 minutes of session’s end, the story was out: as a result of one word, the Governor could sanction one, two or no slot facilities.

You know the rest.

My take? A little rational thinking could have gone a long way and there were two main possibilities: 1) Legislators could have gone with open bidding for one slot location, which the Governor would have signed. Another location could have been added later. 2) The Governor could have signed the bill and used the regulatory commission to ensure just one slot facility.

With the unemployment rate in Massachusetts being in excess of 9% for almost a year, job creation should be the priority – an urgent priority. Instead, we have lots of finger-pointing.

Carriage Town Community. While a sense of community may be hard to find on Beacon Hill, it is alive and well in Carriage Town, aka Merrimac.

Merrimac’s Old Home Days celebration was held this past weekend and it was a sunny success. About 2,500 ‘kids of all ages’ gathered around town for bonfires, pancakes, rock climbs, martial arts demonstrations, chicken BBQ, softball and the world’s best lobster rolls.

Rep. Stanley ate her way through the weekend and enjoyed every bite! A few random photos of the celebration appear below.

Groveland Days will be next!