NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Pursuant to the provisions of M.G.L. c.118G, §6 ½ the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy (“Division”) will hold a public hearing beginning on Monday, June 4, 2012 starting at 9:00 AM at Bunker Hill Community College, 250 New Rutherford Avenue, Boston, MA 02129, and subsequent days thereafter, including Tuesday, June 5 and; Wednesday, June 6, regarding:
HEALTH CARE PROVIDER AND PAYER COSTS AND COST TRENDS
Commissioner Áron Boros will preside over the hearings. The Division shall call as witnesses a representative sample of providers and payers, including but not limited to those specified by the statute, who shall provide testimony under oath and subject to examination and cross examination by the Division and the Attorney General, as authorized by M.G.L. c. 118G, §§ 6 and 6 ½, regarding the factors that contribute to cost growth within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ health care system and to the relationship between provider costs and payer premium rates. The Division reserves the right to call other witnesses in furtherance of the statutory purpose of the hearings.
Testimony may include without limitation: (i) in the case of providers, testimony concerning payment systems, payer mix, cost structures, administrative and labor costs, capital and technology costs, adequacy of public payer reimbursement levels, reserve levels, utilization trends, and cost-containment strategies, the relation of private payer reimbursement levels to public payer reimbursements for similar services, efforts to improve the efficiency of the delivery system, efforts to reduce the inappropriate or duplicative use of technology; and (ii) in the case of private and public payers, testimony concerning factors underlying premium cost and rate increases, the relation of reserves to premium costs, the payer’s efforts to develop benefit design and payment policies that enhance product affordability and encourage efficient use of health resources and technology, efforts by the payer to increase consumer access to health care information, and efforts by the payer to promote the standardization of administrative practices, and any other matters as determined by the Division.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 6, the Division will accept oral testimony from members of the public. Any person who wishes to present comments is welcome to testify on a first-come, first-served basis for five minutes. Sign-ups will begin at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, June 6. All written testimony provided by witnesses or the public may be posted on the Division’s website: http://www.mass.gov/dhcfp. Additional information regarding the hearings may be posted from time to time on the Division’s website.
2012 Health Care Provider And Payer Costs And Cost Trends Notice of Public Hearing (PDF) 
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