The Massachusetts State House.

Leaders of the Massachusetts House of Representatives have proposed a state budget that includes a new $250 million annual tax on hospitals to help fund the Bay State’s growing Medicaid population, The Boston Globe reported.  The proposal comes as private-sector employers continue to jettison health insurance for employees and employment becomes more contingent.

Hospital officials had first objected to the big new tax when Gov. Charlie Baker first suggested it in January. But House leaders are now calling for the tax to be phased out after about five years. That revision brought the Massachusetts Hospital Association to accept the levy.

But wouldn’t the state Medicaid population be even bigger in five years?\