The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a $300M supplemental budget to cover rising health care costs, with Gov. Maura Healey signing it into law. The funding will be used to fund health insurance for public employees through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), a quasi-independent state agency. The House and Senate both passed the emergency legislation (H. 5348), which will only cover GIC costs through the end of the current fiscal year in June. The cost of the funding is attributed to higher than anticipated utilization and pharmaceutical expenses, which lawmakers attribute to increased costs. The total cost of health care in Massachusetts per capita has grown by 5.7% between 2023 and 2024, while the benchmark was set at 3.6%.