Mass. health care spending exceeded benchmark under 2012 law
DATE: September 2, 2015
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 the benchmark set under the state’s 2012 cost containment law as enrollment and cost growth at MassHealth exploded.
With health care costs putting pressure on not only the state budget but businesses looking to locate, expand and hire in Massachusetts, policy leaders on Beacon Hill have sought to rein in spending by setting annual cost growth goals and pushing the market to develop alternative delivery and payment models.
After posting a modest 2.4 percent growth rate in 2013, the Center for Health Information and Analysis found that in 2014 spending climbed 4.8 percent, driven in part by higher pharmaceutical costs and a sharp spike in Medicaid enrollment. The Health Policy Commission last year set the annual benchmark at 3.6 percent, but CHIA’s findings show that spending grew at a faster clip than the benchmark and both inflation and national per capita health care spending projections.