The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) has released its 2015 Cost Trends Report and is recommending legislative action to reign in provider price variation.
The report issued Wednesday found that provider prices vary widely for the same services, and that price variation generally does not reflect a difference in quality of care. These variations, according to the report, have not diminished over time with the extent of variation and distribution of prices having been generally consistent since 2010. The price positions of individual hospitals and physician groups relative to the market tend to be consistent over time, particularly for providers at the top and the bottom of the relative price distribution, according to HPC.
And these unwarranted price distributions have not been impacted by the state’s “significant healthcare market reforms” that have increased pricing transparency, according to HPC, although this transparency may have prevented price increases. However, there has been no reduction in these price variations, and as a result, the HPC said it will move towards direct policy measures.
In 2016, the HPC will push specific, data-driven policy options for consideration by the legislature, other policy makers, and market participants.
