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A $40.3 billion state budget unveiled Monday by [Massachusetts] House leaders puts on hold Republican Gov. Charlie Baker's plan for an assessment on employers who don't offer health insurance benefits to their workers. The spending plan for the July 1 fiscal year approved by the House Ways and Means Committee would increase total spending by 3.8 percent over the current year but is $180 million below Baker's earlier $40.5 billion budget proposal. ... The governor had said he proposed the employer assessment to help counter a surge in costs for MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, which consumes more than 40 percent of all state spending. Officials have noted a sharp rise in people who have full-time jobs yet chose to go on Medicaid either because their employers don't offer insurance or because the coverage offered is less generous than MassHealth. (Salsberg, 4/10)

Low-income Oklahomans will have limited access to a range of health care services if the state Medicaid agency moves forward with a slew of cuts to the publicly funded health care program. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which oversees Oklahoma's Medicaid program, announced Monday that, as the agency prepares for whatever money the Legislature provides, the authority will consider provider rate cuts of up to 25 percent to balance the agency's budget. (Cosgrove, 4/10)

The proposal from four Republican legislators to extend government health insurance coverage to poor adults will have a hard time getting through the legislature. House Speaker Tim Moore said Monday that he remains opposed to Medicaid expansion. “The best thing to do for the working poor is to continue to grow the economy,” Moore said. (Bonner, 4/10)