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Joint Appropriations Committee adopts targeted rate increases, cuts vacant positions in Department of Health budget
Summary
The Joint Appropriations Committee approved selected rate increases and staffing conversions for the Department of Health while denying larger reimbursement increases and reducing vacant behavioral health positions, as members pressed for more data on maternity care and behavioral health rebasing.
Representative Sherwood, presenting the Department of Health budget to the Joint Appropriations Committee, said the agency’s spending is largely pass-through payments to providers and described the JAC’s actions on the department’s requests.
The committee approved a set of targeted measures intended to stabilize provider networks and maintain services for vulnerable populations, denied two larger reimbursement increases, and reduced several vacant behavioral-health positions.
Why it matters: The Department of Health budget covers Medicaid payments, state-operated health facilities and regulatory functions. The committee’s choices shift how much state general fund support the agency receives this biennium and which staffing requests are funded, while leaving some high-cost policy questions—particularly maternity-care access and behavioral-health rebasing—for later…
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