The Center for Health Information and Analysis, which is responsible for helping Massachusetts monitor and contain healthcare costs, saw its budget slashed by more than a third as part of a deal designed to address disparities in the prices of healthcare services, according to The Boston Globe.
The budget cut is the result of a compromise reached May between Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union and Boston-based Partners Healthcare. The union agreed to drop its push for a ballot measure that would have diverted $440 million in annual payments to Partners and redistributed much of that money to lower-paid hospitals, according to the report.
In return for dropping the proposal, Partners agreed to discuss unionizing some of its workers, and Beacon Hill leaders agreed to send more money to community hospitals — $45 million of which is coming from CHIA's budget over the next five years.
Brian Rosman, policy director of the consumer advocacy group Health Care For All, said he's worried the $10 million cut from CHIA's budget will impede the state's ability to monitor and address its rising healthcare costs, according to the report.
"We worry that by taking money out of CHIA, [lawmakers and the governor] are hurting the very cause that they're trying to solve," Mr. Rosman told The Boston Globe.
However, others question whether the agency really needs such a large budget to begin with, especially as the state struggles with ongoing budget challenges. Over the last three years, CHIA's annual budget rose from about $22 million to about $28 million. Although it hired dozens of new employees and moved to a new office, the agency did not spend all of its funds, according to the report.
CHIA is slated to lose $5 million from its budget in the fiscal year that began July 1, and $10 million per year over the next four years, according to the report. A CHIA spokesperson said the agency is "exploring the implications of the recent changes" and has not determined how to absorb the cuts.