The Center for Health Information and Analysis’ annual report found total statewide healthcare spending in Massachusetts was $60.9 billion in 2018, or $8,827 per capita. That’s up 3.1 percent from 2017, primarily due to increased gross prescription drug spending.
However, at the same time, the center’s annual report found that out-of-pocket costs and premiums for fully-insured plans grew substantially faster — 6.1 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively — between 2016 and 2018. The center said this is about twice the rate of inflation and wages.
“An overall growth rate of 3.1 percent … is a good number and something to be proud of, but it’s not the end of the discussion and not the end of the work that needs to be done,” Ray Campbell, executive director of the center, told MassLive.com. “We need to look beneath that number at who’s bearing what costs.”
In 2018, the average Massachusetts member cost-sharing amount climbed 5.6 percent year over year to $55 per month, and the share of commercial members with high-deductible health plans (31.5 percent) continued to increase across most market sectors, according to the agency’s annual report.
The center said the report will help inform the Health Policy Commission’s 2019 Health Care Cost Trends Hearing, scheduled for Oct. 22 and 23.
Read the full report here.
More articles on healthcare finance:
Trump’s Medicare executive order could result in surprise medical bills
Self-insured employers using pricing information in contracting talks
Ron Wachsman on Baptist Memorial Health Care’s collaborative approach to revenue cycle
Becker’s 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit is the top tier event that the people leading the future of pharmacy convene. This 3-day event is built specifically for Chief Pharmacy Officers and senior pharmacy leaders. The sessions examine the workforce, financial and clinical priorities shaping pharmacy today. Becker’s is where candid discussions flourish and new ideas thrive. Becker's 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit
