On July 4, 2025, Governor Healey signed into law the FY 2026 budget totaling $61 billion, which includes $102 million in new Medicaid nursing facility funding, and also includes a provision to increase the nursing facility provider tax to the maximum amount under existing federal law.
In signing the budget, Governor Healey took a series of overall cost reduction actions to address the uncertain fiscal environment facing the Commonwealth due to a potential reduction in state tax revenue and anticipated significant federal revenue reductions resulting from yesterday’s enactment by Congress of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ which the Healey Administration has preliminarily estimated will cut Medicaid revenue by over $1 billion over time.
The Governor’s FY2026 budget cost control actions included vetoing an additional $25 million in nursing facility funding authorized by the legislature. The Governor’s veto message noted that her action brings the total Medicaid nursing facility funding increase to $102 million which is consistent with her original H.1 budget recommendation.
Mass Senior Care is continuing to review the FY2026 budget and will implement a veto override strategy to ensure that state funding adequately supports the actual cost of quality resident care. We will need the active support of membership as we seek to override this veto.