Health Care Expenditures In Massachusetts

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (535 download)

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Download or read book Massachusetts Health Care Cost Trends written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Massachusetts health care system is a critical component of the state's economy. Health care is the state's top industry, the largest employer of Massachusetts residents, and accounts for over 13 percent of its $365 billion Gross State Product (GSP). The Commonwealth Fund ranks Massachusetts first in terms of access to care and seventh overall among states on its State Scorecard, which measures health system performance. Massachusetts hospitals are often cited as among the best in the nation in terms of the quality of health care services provided, scoring higher than national average on treatment of major conditions. Furthermore, Massachusetts health insurers are consistently rated among the top ten best plans in each category nationwide. At the same time, Massachusetts is grappling with escalating health care costs, which are consuming a greater portion of the economy and lowering real wage growth. Some of the cost growth is driven by system-wide challenges, such as an aging population and the greater use and availability of increasingly complex levels of medical care, much of which can be uncoordinated. To that point, Massachusetts ranks in the lowest quartile of states for avoidable hospital use and costs on the Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard. However, some challenges, such as those that stem from the structure of the health care market place, are unique to Massachusetts and must be considered when identifying strategies to mitigate health care cost growth. This report examines the factors that contribute to high health care costs in Massachusetts, including the structure of the health care system and the payment methods currently used by Massachusetts health insurers. Understanding these factors will better prepare the Commonwealth to evaluate and develop reforms that have the potential to simultaneously contain cost growth and improve quality. Data describing the Massachusetts health care system are drawn from various published sources. Data on payment methods are based on the results of a 2009 questionnaire administered for the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, in which Massachusetts insurers documented the ways in which they pay hospitals, physicians, and intermediary organizations (medical groups, Independent Practice Associations [IPAs] and physician-hospital organizations [PHOs]).