IT’S THE CULTURE of state government versus the Baker administration and the winner, by a knockout in the fifth round, is state government culture. Think of the MBTA and the Registry of Motor Vehicles with their deeply rooted cultures of self-protection and risk avoidance. Gov. Charlie Baker has staked a good measure of his credibility […]
Michael Widmer
Posted inOpinion
Where is Baker’s sense of urgency on the T?
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is apparently contemplating a third term in order to complete the things he’s started. It’s clear that at this pace he may need a fourth term to fix the MBTA. The two MBTA derailments in the past week dramatize the enormous challenges facing the T and the lack of meaningful progress for […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. leading way on reining in health care costs
THE CONSTITUENCIES THAT CAME together to gain passage of the state’s landmark universal health care law in 2006 — consumers, employers, providers, insurers — were justifiably proud of our achievement. But we all recognized that an even larger problem lay ahead – gaining control over the escalating costs of health care. Looking back, we could […]
Posted inOpinion
Tolls may be best way to deal with congestion
WHEN BOSTONIANS GET TOGETHER and engage in small talk the topics are predictable — sports, politics and of course the weather. But recently a new topic has risen to the top of the list — traffic congestion. It’s on everyone’s minds and the frustration is palpable. One small example tells the story for thousands of […]
Posted inTransportation
Is Baker’s commission another delay tactic?
LIKE RED LINE TRAINS, the state’s efforts to address transportation funding are constantly bedeviled by fits and starts in a seemingly endless quest to reach the destination. In the latest iteration, the Baker administration has proposed the creation of a commission to analyze transportation needs and develop a plan to pay for them, though the […]
Posted inTransportation
Lack of public sector experience is troubling
THE APPOINTMENT OF LUIS RAMIREZ as the new general manager of the MBTA again raises the question of whether a successful private sector businessman or woman can make a successful transition to the public sector. One school of thought, usually offered by those with limited public sector experience, argues that proven business leaders can simply […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
What’s the rush on Medicaid reform?
IN THE SUMMER OF 1972, then-governor Frank Sargent announced a series of steps to gain control over the escalating costs of the Medicaid program, which had been launched only a few years earlier. The annual costs were about $500 million. Nine governors and almost half a century later, with annual costs now at $16 billion, […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
FY18 budget shortfall could be $1b
IT IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED on Beacon Hill, certainly among budget writers, that the fiscal 2018 budgets passed by the House and Senate depend on unrealistic revenue projections. But it is much less well understood that the revenue shortfall could approach $1 billion. How could that be? There are two parts to the answer — first, […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Latest numbers undercut need for health care tax
THE LATEST DATA for the state’s MassHealth program indicate enrollment has stabilized, suggesting the assumption behind Gov. Charlie Baker’s health care tax on employers – that Medicaid rolls are soaring – is not supported by the evidence. In a previous column, I pointed out that enrollment had declined in November and December 2016 to the […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
Baker’s claim of soaring Medicaid rolls is faulty
WITH MUCH FANFARE last January, the Baker administration sounded the alarm that the Medicaid rolls were soaring because individuals were dropping their employer coverage and choosing instead to enroll in the more generous MassHealth program. To help address the budget problem, the administration proposed a broad tax on employers, mistakenly likening the proposal to the […]