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Health Policy Commission warns Massachusetts faces mounting health‑care affordability crisis
Summary
The Health Policy Commission told the Group Insurance Commission that commercial price growth, expensive branded drugs and shifting site‑of‑care payments are driving Massachusetts health‑care spending above the state benchmark, and urged coordinated policy action including site‑neutral payments and measures to support primary care.
David Seltz, executive director of the Health Policy Commission, told the Group Insurance Commission that Massachusetts is facing a deepening affordability challenge driven mainly by rising prices rather than heavier use of care. "Hospital and physician groups are demanding some extraordinary rate increases in their negotiations with carriers far in excess of the cost growth benchmark," Seltz said during the November GIC meeting.
Seltz presented a decade of spending data showing recent years’ commercial spending growth outpacing the state benchmark and beginning to exceed national trends. He said commercial per‑enrollee…
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