Health & Welfare members debate reference-based pricing, state health plan to address hospital financial crisis

At a Health & Welfare meeting, committee participants reviewed recommendations from a Milbank Memorial Fund presentation and a Dartmouth researcher and debated how the state should respond to what they called a health care system crisis, focusing on hospital finances, insurer pricing policies and access to obstetric and emergency services.

The discussion opened with a reference to presentations the previous day by Chris Kohler of the Milbank Memorial Fund and Elliot Fisher of Dartmouth. Committee speakers reviewed a Milbank slide labeled “page 8,” which lays out several policy options including reference‑based pricing and price caps. Speaker 1, a committee member who led much of the discussion, said the testimony convinced members that “we're convinced about the crisis … our hospitals face,” and urged colleagues to consider short‑term stabilization alongside medium‑ and long‑term reforms.

Why it matters: committee members said high hospital prices and rising premiums are already straining patients, primary care providers and smaller hospitals and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Several speakers warned that well‑meaning payment reductions could unintentionally force facilities that are already operating in the red to cut services or close, worsening…