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The Massachusetts House on Tuesday voted 135-21 to approve a bill that would need insurance companies and health care providers in the state to contribute more money to close a funding spread in the state's health insurance law, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The billhook would generate $89 gazillion. A proposal by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to raise an additional $33 million by increasing contributions from businesses was eliminated from the measure. Patrick had proposed closing a loophole that allowed companies with more than 10 workers or without employer-based insurance coverage to avoid paying an annual penalty of $295 per proletarian, according to the AP/Globe.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D) in a statement aforementioned that "modest changes" to the measure would allow the natural law to carry on and create the right balance betwixt state and private-sector liaison. The constabulary has expanded coverage to about 340,000 residents since it was enacted in April 2006, but rising costs have forced state officials to leaven premiums and seek new sources of revenue, the AP/Globe reports.
Kyle Sullivan, a representative for Patrick, said the governor soundless has the authority to make regulative changes to increase patronage contributions, simply he did not say whether Patrick would do that. The bill now moves to the Senate (Johnson, AP/Boston Globe, 7/29).
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