In Washington…
Rep. Thomas proposes Medicare drug bill, some provider relief but hospital cuts… House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) has proposed for a prescription drug benefit in Medicare and a variety of payment reforms. The drug benefit carries a $250 annual deductible. Once the deductible is satisfied, the plan would pay 70 percent of drug costs for the first $2,000 in drugs. There is an out-of-pocket catastrophic limit of $5,000. The Thomas plan also offers relief to physicians, Medicare+Choice plans, and home health agencies but imposes a new round of cuts on hospitals.
And on Beacon Hill…
House approves revenue package…
In the beginning of May, the House got to work on a revenue bill and the Massachusetts House voted 131-24 to approve the $1.06 billion in additional state revenues. The tax increase measure is moving separately from the annual budget bill. The House package includes:
Rates.
Freezing the income tax rate at its current rate of 5.3 percent ($230 million).
Capital gains.
Taxing income from capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income ($240 million).
Personal exemptions.
Reducing personal exemptions from $4,400 (single) and $8,800 (joint) to $3,300 (single) and $6,600 (joint) ($258 million).
Charitable contributions.
Postponing the individual deduction for charitable contributions ($185 million).
Cigarette tax.
Raising the cigarette excise tax by .75 cents ($150 million). The additional tobacco tax revenue has not been dedicated exclusively to health care expenditures.
Legislators also approved a two-month “tax amnesty” expected to generate $30 to $40 million in additional state revenue.