From the Union Leader concerning the MET / Hospital tax ruled unconstitutional (emphasis mine, reformatted):
CONCORD — Senate President Chuck Morse says a short-term fix is needed to address a recent court ruling that the state’s tax on hospitals is unconstitutional. Speaking Tuesday at a Senate Ways and Means Committee meeting, the Salem Republican said lawmakers need a long-term solution that phases out the Medicaid Enhancement Tax assessed on hospitals’ patient services.
“Avoiding major disruptions to the state budget is in the state’s best interests and in the hospitals’ best interest,” Morse said. “I also believe that responding to the recent court decisions will require changing the MET in the short-term and phasing it out in the long-term.”
Morse suggested hospitals and state tax officials need to agree what services are subject to the tax. He said hospitals’ uncompensated care will be reduced when more state residents are insured under Medicaid expansion, which will reduce the state’s need for the tax.
Well, of COURSE a disruption in the budget is not a good thing for The Plan, for The Plan must be followed. I detect a whiff of “Government comes first” in that statement and I contrast that with what happens in families when desired income doesn’t come in – they either tap into their saving (e.g., The Rainy Day fund) or they pull in their belts and do without. Nobody likes doing with less but when in a single or double income family a cut comes, people will cut back. How come we never see Government do the same? Easy – there is never a consistent “List of Priorities” that can be referenced and matched against monies because that would require elected politicians to actually examine and make the hardest decisions to publicly declare – these are necessary but these are more “like to have” (and basically also puts up “red bullseyes to be used later” on the wall hooks). I never seem to hear “Well, we have to cut those programs because these monies failed to come into the coffers”.
Take the other interest: “hospitals’ best interest,””. Let me see if I get this straight – the Government passes a law that hospitals MUST do X amount of charity work. Then the Government taxes the hospitals for doing what they do. And the hospitals hope and pray they get some of that money back to pay for that mandated free care – and the hospitals are supposed to say “Thank you sir, may I have another?”. Let’s be truthful: it would be in their best interest to NOT pay any tax at all. Further, it would be in their best interest to be able to set their level of how much “free care” they can reasonably do.
After all, it turns into a hidden tax on the rest of us that Government levies upon us all – the hospital is just the conduit for it.
And the third thing: “when more state residents are insured under Medicaid expansion, which will reduce the state’s need for the tax“. Can we be more obfuscated and deflecting than that? SURE the State is going to need less tax – it is outsourcing that need to the Federal Government. Once again, we see the Live Free or Die State become more dependent upon the Federal government. For three years. And then that burden will come back to the State’s taxpayers. And I’m betting sooner. But all it is, once again, mere another conduit.
For when it all comes down to it, all conduits lead to us. State taxpayers and Federal taxpayers. It always comes back to us no matter what the politicians say.
The MET raises $185 annually, with $72 million going into the state’s general fund. The remaining money is used to pay Medicaid providers and to reimburse hospitals for charity care and Medicaid rates, which pay about 50 cents on the dollar.
