Are Massachusetts healthcare costs ok after all?

The best defense is a good offense. I assume that’s what Partners HealthCare CEO David Torchiana had in mind when he penned First do no harm in the Boston Globe. In a nutshell, he argues that healthcare costs in Massachusetts are more affordable for businesses and individuals than elsewhere in the country, that they are becoming relatively more affordable, and that the state should resist the urge to impose further cost controls. I’ve made similar arguments about affordability myself. See for example, Massachusetts: Land of affordable health insurance from back in 2011. And yet… While Massachusetts has retained its affordability relative to other states, healthcare is taking up a higher and higher percentage of families’ incomes, including in Massachusetts. Medicaid and other healthcare spending dominates the state government’s spending growth, squeezes out discretionary initiatives for priorities such as education, and necessitates the tough budget cuts Governor Charlie Baker is making. I’m sure I’m not the only one whose eyebrows were raised by Torchiana’s sanguine perspective. Partners also should not claim too much credit for the reasonableness of healthcare spending in Massachusetts, considering that its own costs are among the highest. Despite receiving substantially higher reimbursement from commercial payers than other providers and enjoying a richer payer mix, Partners recently reported a record loss of $108 mill...
Source: Health Business Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Economics Hospitals Policy and politics Governor Charlie Baker healthcare costs Massachusetts Partners HealthCare Source Type: blogs