Constraining the Unsustainable Rise in MA Healthcare Costs

In Massachusetts, health care spending continues to grow at a rapid clip, outpacing wages and inflation. Massachusetts now has the highest health care premiums in the nation, with family premiums outpacing the national average by more than $3,500. Employers and consumers grapple with rising costs at the pharmacy counter, doctor’s office and in the emergency room. The health care affordability crisis in the Commonwealth could not be more urgent or serious.

The Working Group has developed six recommendations for reducing health care costs, which ECOH fully supports. Each of these recommendations comes from a state regulatory agency, uses MA-specific data, and offers sizable savings. The following six opportunities provide over $4 billion in annual savings across the health care system and more than $40 billion in savings over the next decade.

For Employers to remain competitive and for the sake of Massachusetts citizens, these measures must be implemented.