Guiding Principles

1. Contain health care costs in Massachusetts to improve the state’s economic competitiveness.

2. Bend the health care cost curve by addressing underlying health care cost drivers as identified by the Health Policy Commission (HPC) and by strengthening HPC’s tools to attain the cost containment strategies are successful.

3. Oppose all attempts to shift costs to the commercial insurance market from other market segments.

4. Require the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) to assess prior to enactment any legislation that will affect commercial health insurance premiums and quantify its cost impact.

5. Prohibit enactment of policies or legislation that further restricts commercial, fully insured product offerings, such as capping or otherwise modifying cost-sharing, or removing or limiting managed care tools, or are more expansive than the Affordable Care Act requirements, such as mandating new product designs or benefits.

6. Emphasize that the right care must be provided in the right place and at the right time to ensure efficacy.

7. Prioritize behavioral health and primary care spending within the confines of the Cost Growth Benchmark.

8. Advance health equity within the confines of the Cost Growth Benchmark.

9. Make the large variation in the cost of health care services more transparent to purchasers by publishing and promoting them.

10. Streamline and automate administrative functions.

11. Promote stability of the commercial health insurance market.

12. Health care system innovation to reduce cost and improve access and quality must be encouraged and incentivized through payment reforms.