In the News

The state Legislature on Thursday took an important step toward reforming the problem-plagued nursing home industry by passing a bill that, if signed into law, should improve staffing levels and…

By Mica Kanner-Mascolo, Worcester Business Journal, September 11, 2024

As Massachusetts feels the lasting effects of postponed health care during the COVID pandemic, a new report shows members of the government…

Hospitals that serve lower income patients charge much lower prices compared to big players like Mass General Brigham.

 

For urgent-care centers to work the way they are intended, people need to understand when to go there and when to go straight to the ER.

Newly released data shows the majority of leadership positions in the Massachusetts healthcare industry are held by white people, a fact that not only shapes workplace dynamics, but can often…

Health insurance is mandatory in Massachusetts and the latest state-sponsored snapshot, based on findings collected from April through August 2023, indicate that 98.

MASSACHUSETTS IS IN the unique position of having a designated agency to wave a red flag when health care systems start trending in troubling directions, and the head of that…

 

After helping Rita Barse, left, shower and dress, aide Millicent Cousins leaves for the day.

More and more doctors leaving practices, some cancer screenings down        
  - Jennifer Smith, Commonwealth Beacon, Thursday, May 16, 2024

     

  

BY ALMOST EVERY almost every significant metric, primary care in Massachusetts is…

Dissatisfaction was highest among Hispanic residents.  

Dr.

Consumers, Hospitals Lose Ground As Total Spending Increased 5. 8 PercentColin A. Young, State House News Service, Wednesday, March 13, 2024

MARCH 13, 2024. . . . .

 

BOSTON (State House News Service) — Unplanned hospital readmissions are viewed by health care analysts as a measure of system performance and quality, and new state data marks the inaugural look…

In the fight against ever-rising drug prices, attention is increasingly zeroing in on a little-noticed middleman of the pharmaceutical chain – pharmacy benefit managers.

 

The cost of temporary staffing at Massachusetts hospitals doubled in 2022, according to a new state report, leading to a significant drop in the profitability of local hospitals.

It was pretty clear which of the 24 bills on the docket Tuesday would command the bulk of the Health Care Financing Committee's attention from the get-go.

 

 

New state data shows that Black and Hispanic residents are using hospital services at higher rates than other groups, potentially pointing to uneven challenges accessing primary care and differences in…

Hospital executives recognize how much more expensive it is to care for patients in academic medical centers, and are making efforts to keep patients local.

Growing Premiums At Heart Of "Unaffordable Medical Inflation"   

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 16, 2023. . . . .

The state’s most vulnerable hospitals are about to get an infusion of cash, thanks to a supplemental budget bill that Gov. Maura Healey signed this week.

Tufts Medical Center.   

In a state dominated by health care giants, Tufts Medicine has struggled to compete.

 

 

More than 10 years after the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission was established with the goal of reigning in excessive cost growth in the state’s health care industry, some lawmakers say…

For the first time ever, the Center for Health Information and Analysis has included sections on behavioral health in its Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care…

 

CHIA Reports Per Capita Expenditure Neared $10,000 In 2021 . . . . .

A wave of retirements, growing patient demand, and changing patterns of well visits are behind the crunch.  

Dr.

New Data Sheds Light On Trends In Primary Care   

     

JAN. 25, 2023. . . . .

A new study from the Center for Health Information and Analysis found that Hispanic people and Black people are significantly more likely to visit the emergency department for non-emergency care.

Black and Hispanic residents were far more likely than white residents to visit hospital emergency departments for care, even before the pandemic, according to a new state analysis released Wednesday.

State policy makers have long searched for effective strategies to control health care costs. Since the 1970s, health spending growth has consistently exceeded growth in the gross domestic product.

ONE OF GOV.

While the vast majority have insurance, many let health care needs go unmet, a new survey shows.

 

Restricted during the Omicron wave of COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, hospitals continued to show signs of financial distress two years into the pandemic with the latest data…

 

Acute hospital profitability, as measured by the median total margin, reported -3. 1%, a decrease of 6.

 

The Massachusetts HA is advocating for additional government relief to get through the financial crisis hurting Massachusetts hospitals.

Average monthly premium for single coverage $715
IF YOU WORK for a Massachusetts company, it’s likely your employer offers health insurance. But it will cost you.

Nearly three-quarters of Massachusetts companies offered health insurance to their employees at the start of 2022, which was 15% more than the national rate of 59%, according to a new…

- New CHIA data identifies geographic disparities.  
 

  IT IS BY now an axiom that Massachusetts residents have access to some of the best health care in the country.

Three of the state's largest hospitals had expenses that outweighed revenue for the year that ended in September 2020, but were able to stay in the black with the help…

Out-of-pocket costs for pregnancy care are rising in Massachusetts, placing a harsher burden on families, a new report shows.

Many of the state’s small and independent hospitals, buffeted by two years of heavy losses during the pandemic, are facing a significant financial crunch and fear they may not be…

 

Mass General Brigham, the largest hospital system and owner of Massachusetts General Hospital, reported an RSRR of 16%.

As Pandemic Took Hold, Prescription Costs Rose While Overall Health Care Spending Fell. . . . .

Massachusetts spent $1. 5 billion less on health care in 2020 than 2019, the first time health care spending decreased since state officials began tracking the information in 2013.

 

 

Black and Hispanic residents in Massachusetts struggle to pay medical bills, find it harder to access doctor appointments and have patchier health coverage than their white counterparts, according to a…

 

Only 89% of Black and 82% of Hispanic residents reported having 12 or more months of continuous health insurance coverage in Massachusetts pre-pandemic, compared to 95.

 

 - CHIA identifies racial disparities in access, insurance -

 - - HISPANIC RESIDENTS IN Massachusetts have experienced some of the most significant struggles in obtaining timely, affordable health care in an…

 

AS STATE POLICYMAKERS seek ways to slow the growth in health care costs and improve access to care, a new report by the Center for Health Information and Analysis on…

 

A new state report has found more than half of Massachusetts residents have unmet health-related social needs.

 

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) has released its annual update of provider price variation in the Massachusetts commercial health insurance market.

 

 

Lawrence General Hospital receives around $100 from insurers for performing a chest X-ray, while Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital gets $180, Sen.

While Massachusetts ranks high among the states in terms of residents with health insurance, one in four insured residents here reported forgoing health care that they felt was needed due…

Hospitals Helped Drive Spending Total to $64. 1 Billion
. . . . . Spending on health care in Massachusetts hit $64. 1 billion in 2019, a 4.

 

The number of people with MassHealth as their primary health insurance grew by about 10% from March through September, a spike a state agency attributes largely to federal COVID-19 legislation.…

Research recently released by the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) suggests hospitalized patients with a behavioral health comorbidity are at an increased risk for readmission.

THE CENTER FOR HEALTH Information and Analysis released its monthly hospital financial performance data on Thursday, providing a picture of how hospitals fared through the first five months of the…

Enrollment in MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, has spiked by about 63,000 people since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Massachusetts in March, but the overall number of people with…

A report released Thursday morning by the Center for Health Information and Analysis shows that despite federal and state aid, many Massachusetts hospitals will face a long road to recovery…

Thursday, February 13, 2020 via MassLive Media -  The majority of prescription drug spending for pharmacies between 2015 and 2017 went to medications treating inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular illnesses, asthma and other…

A new report finds that the rate of readmissions to Massachusetts hospitals has not changed over the last two years.

Michael P. Norton, State House News Service

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, NOV. 25, 2019. . . . .

Little agreement so far on what to do about that.

 

 

Hospital spending grew faster than the state’s benchmark, with inpatient services up 3. 7 percent to $11. 7 billion, and outpatient services up 3.

Angus Chen, WBUR, October 08, 2019. Every year, Massachusetts sets a target ceiling for how much health care spending should grow.

Research Article, Health Affairs Vol. 38, No. 9

 

Abstract:
The extent of price variation across a local market has important implications for value-based purchasing.

by Worcester Business Journal, Wednesday, August 28, 2019
 

Enrollment in the Massachusetts Medicaid health coverage program has fallen by 9.

By Katie Holahan, BusinessWest, August 20, 2019

More Massachusetts companies of all sizes are offering health insurance to their workers, but fewer employees are enrolling as costs accelerate, according to…

BOSTON — More than two-thirds of Massachusetts businesses offered health plans to their employees, according to new data amid a national debate over the best way to expand health insurance…

THE CENTER FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS produces reams of data for both Massachusetts policymakers and the public, providing a window into state health care expenditures and offering tools…

 

 

The Center for Health Information and Analysis says the percentage of commercial payments made to the most expensive doctor’s groups is growing.

Insulin spending in Massachusetts skyrocketed 50 percent in just three years, according to a new state study.

Costs for the exact same procedure — an MRI of a knee — vary dramatically among area hospitals, according to a new report that calls for more transparency and action…

The growth in health care spending in Massachusetts has slowed significantly - but the amount individuals are paying for their care is still increasing, according to the Center for Health…

Out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles and co-pays, increased at a rate of 5. 7 percent last year in Massachusetts.

Despite hospital advocates on Beacon Hill clamoring for higher reimbursements, a new report put out by the state finds that financially, Massachusetts hospitals on the whole are faring surprisingly well.

Massachusetts residents have a new tool to help them make health care decisions with the launch Wednesday of an online transparency website that includes procedure pricing comparisons, provider quality metrics…

BOSTON - Increased health care expenditures in Massachusetts fell within a  targeted goal tied to the state's economic growth, according to a recently released report.

The recently released 2017 Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey from the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) found that at only 3.

By Katie Lannan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, DEC. 20, 2017. . . . .

Though most Massachusetts hospitals may have reported positive margins in fiscal 2016, 37 of the state's 43 physician organizations — which employ the doctors and are run by physicians rather…

By Katie Lannan, State House News Service via The Lowell Sun

BOSTON -- Workers at lower-wage companies are less likely to be enrolled in health insurance through their employer than their…

Associated Press via WWLP.

By Michael Norton, State House News Service via MassLive.

A state analysis of readmissions among all patients, not just those on Medicare, found that rates in Massachusetts barely budged between 2012 and 2014.

The revision came after Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of the state’s largest insurers, noticed errors in the figures it submitted to the information center.

The growth of health care spending moderated in Massachusetts last year, the state reported Wednesday, a sign that its ground-breaking experiment to rein in medical costs is making tentative progress.

An analysis is a mixed bag for consumers struggling to keep up with premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

Spending on health care in Massachusetts rose to $57.

Most Massachusetts hospitals were profitable last year, even as they faced pressures to control expenses and become more efficient in a fast-changing health care market.

MassHealth and Medicare each provided primary health insurance coverage for more than 1 million Massachusetts residents from December 2013 to March 2016, while around 4 million Bay Staters were covered…

BOSTON -- Unplanned patient readmissions to hospitals, which drive up health-care costs because they are often preventable, remain a problem in Massachusetts, where 78 percent of hospitals face federal penalties…

BOSTON  - A new survey of Massachusetts residents finds that about one in six did not get health care they said they needed in 2015 because of the cost.

BOSTON (State House News Service) – Spending on health care in Massachusetts climbed to $54 billion in 2014, according to a new report, significantly outpacing both state economic growth and…

Health care costs in Massachusetts jumped by 4.

Despite efforts to curb health care costs in Massachusetts, health care spending is on the rise.

Last year was good to most Massachusetts hospitals.

Dive Brief:

Attempts in Massachusetts to cut unplanned hospital readmissions brought mixed results from 2011 to 2013, according to the state's Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA).

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) reported Tuesday that 96.

CHIA's Executive Director Áron Boros discussing Substance Use Disorder in Massachusetts.  

For those who need substance abuse treatment in Massachusetts, the system appears to be stacked against them in a couple of key ways, according to a new report by the…

The math is simple and starkly clear. There are 868 detox beds in Massachusetts, where patients go to break the cycle of addiction. They stay on average one week.

A Boston Business Journal analysis of Massachusetts health care system found that the majority of organizations analyzed reported declines in emergency department visits in 2014.

FierceHealthFinance, an industry publication regarding healthcare finance news for health executives and financial managers, recently published an article concerning CHIA’s Relative Price briefing.

Michael Norton of the State House News Service covered our 2014 Massachusetts Employer Survey in a piece that was later syndicated by the Taunton Gazette.

Interview with Executive Director Áron Boros, who appeared on Boston Neighborhood News on September 8, 2014 to discuss CHIA’s Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System.

CHIA Executive Director Áron Boros spoke with WBUR’s Martha Bebinger about the findings in contained our Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System.

The Boston Globe’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey reported on the recent release of CHIA’s Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System, which contained the first-ever calculation of…