Healey unveils first-phase health care affordability recommendations at Cape Cod Hospital

Governor Maura Healey visited Cape Cod Hospital to release the first-phase recommendations from a statewide Health Care Affordability Working Group she convened to reduce health care costs for families, employers and state budgets.

"We're going to prevent that from happening going forward because nobody should be surprised with a big bill," Healey said as she described a priority to end surprise out-of-network charges. She said the working group—co-chaired by former Health and Human Services secretary Kate Walsh and Lisa Murray of Citizens Bank—brought together hospitals, insurers, employers, patient advocates and academics to produce 12 recommendations so far.

Why it matters: Healey framed the recommendations as a set of short-, medium- and long-term actions aimed at lowering premiums and out-of-pocket costs while preserving Massachusetts' highly ranked health system. She said federal cuts have intensified urgency and pledged state-level action where possible.

Key details: the governor said the administration will direct the commissioner of insurance to develop set standard rates for out-of-network services, implement a standardized discharge form and streamline surrogate decision and paperwork processes, and direct MassHealth to increase primary-care investments to 12% of total medical spending by the end of 2028. The Health Policy Commission has also awarded over $1,000,000 to seven acute-care hospitals to support timely discharges, Healey said.

Next steps: Healey said more recommendations will follow as the working group continues its work and state agencies move to implement the items announced.