BOSTON — The over 85,000 Massachusetts healthcare workers of 1199SEIU today responded to Governor Healey’s proposed FY26 budget, which would impose overly-restrictive growth caps on the state’s Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program and freeze the MassHealth rates paid to community and safety-net hospitals. Tim Foley, 1199SEIU executive vice president, issued the following statement: 

“Last week, Governor Healey rightly highlighted the primary care crisis that Massachusetts families are facing. Our healthcare system is overburdened, healthcare workers are stretched thin, and patients are experiencing the consequences, from long lines to rising costs. 

“While we are encouraged about new investments in nursing home Medicaid rates, it’s concerning to see Governor Healey propose a state budget that would restrict future growth of the Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program that provides services for older adults and people with disabilities.  Restricting future access to the PCA program will result in waiting lists and push consumers who rely on support from PCAs out of the program. This proposal places the burden onto already struggling families to care for their loved ones and increases the likelihood of more intensive care settings such as nursing homes and frequent overnight hospital stays. When older adults and people with disabilities instead utilize more expensive forms of care because their PCA services were cut, it will cost the state more in the long run. 

The Governor’s proposed level funding of MassHealth hospital provider rates are inadequate to address the needs of our community hospitals, their patients, and to address ongoing staffing issues that are causing long waits for care. Level funding is equivalent to a cut which will result in more healthcare workers leaving the field, more patients delaying critical care, and more costly healthcare conditions down the road. 

Massachusetts should not put the burden of its FY26 budget challenges on the backs of vulnerable seniors and low-income residents. That will only cost us all more in the future. With a record rainy day fund, and the option of raising new revenue by taxing large multinational corporations who hide their profits offshore, Massachusetts has the ability to avoid these cuts and invest in the healthcare system our families deserve. 

We look forward to working with the legislature to better invest in our critical healthcare workforce even as we tackle the predominant drivers of rising healthcare costs. Together, we can preserve access to the high-quality healthcare Massachusetts is known for and that the Commonwealth’s residents deserve."

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