The Senate Budget and Tax’s Health and Human Services subcommittee voted at the March 14 decision meeting to reject the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) proposal to require local health departments to absorb costs of contractual employee health insurance. They concurred with the House Health and Human Resources subcommittee which rejected the cost shift at their March 6 decision meeting.
The proposal amounted to a $1.6 million cost shift to local health departments. It would have further reduced state funding for health departments (already subject to a funding freeze at last year’s levels in the budget reconciliation bill), and would have likely resulted in service cutbacks.
MACo submitted a letter to the subcommittees opposing the cost shift.
Follow MACo’s advocacy efforts during the 2017 legislative session here.
Prior coverage on Conduit Street:
Subcommittee Rejects Cost Shift Onto Local Health Departments
