HPC offers ideas to contain healthcare costs
Mass.gov
Health Policy Commision executive director David Seltz said last spring new standards could lead to lower costs.
Incentivizing the use of community hospitals, setting "aggressive targets" for reducing hospital readmissions and monitoring drug prescribing patterns are among the recommendations of a state agency looking for ways to control rising health care costs in Massachusetts.
Predicting health insurance premiums and prescription drug spending will both continue to rise, Health Policy Commission members on Wednesday presented a series of policy recommendations based on findings of the commission's annual report analyzing health care market cost trends and spending patterns.
The report, which has not yet been released in full, found that while health care spending growth in Massachusetts has been consistent with the rest of the country, the state remains one of the most expensive for health care.
Health Policy Commission Executive Director David Seltz said there are "concerning trends" in spending on hospital care, which accounted for 41 percent of growth in commercial health care spending in 2015, up from 18 percent in 2014.
As individuals, families, employers and government struggle with rising costs, the cost trends report suggests even higher premium growth in 2016 and beyond. After 12 quarters of growth below 4 percent, base rate increases in the small group and individual markets in Massachusetts rose by between 5.4 percent and 8.3 percent from the end of 2015 through the first quarter of 2017, according to a summary.
The recommendations, like last year's, call for increased transparency around drug pricing and note Massachusetts has not taken "comprehensive action" around additional charges for out-of-network care, an issue that is gaining attention in other parts of the country.
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