Massachusetts Governor Healey Proposes New Tax on Prescription Meds

In her State of the Commonwealth address delivered on January 16, 2025 to a joint session of the Massachusetts Legislature, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey pledged to "continue to control spending and live within our means just as every family and business is doing."

Healey vowed her budget for FY26 would "prioritize efficiency, action and impact."

Since delivering her speech, Healey has fought for passage of a supplemental budget that would commit more than $100 million per month through June to house immigrants and others under the so-called "Right to Shelter" law.

Healey has also suggested taxing candy, which to date is exempt from the state's 6.25 percent sales tax, and is again attempting to win legislative approval for her plan to allow local communities to raise the hotel and meals taxes and impose a new excise tax on complimentary hotel rooms and a five percent surcharge (tax) on your excise tax bill.

Healey also wants to slap the tobacco tax on synthetic nicotine products.

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Another Healey proposal that, according to the Franklin Observer, "resurrects a policy from two decades ago" would increase the cost of prescription medications.

The paper says the "pharmacy assessment" would charge pharmacies "up to $2 per prescription, with the funds funneled into the state's struggling MassHealth program – a system now burdened by new costs associated with the state's migrant crisis."

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance (MassFiscal) states that the new fee would most certainly be passed on to consumers, resulting in "higher out-of-pocket costs for essential medications."

MassFiscal says Healey's budget is "loaded with tax hikes that will make Massachusetts even less competitive."