Press Statement  Statement from Executive Director David Seltz

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) today issued the following statement on the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System. Please attribute the statement to David Seltz, Executive Director.

“The 2019 annual report released today by CHIA identifies both positive trends and warning signs for the future affordability of health care in the Commonwealth. The fact that Massachusetts was at or below the health care cost growth benchmark for the third year in a row, and continues to increase more slowly than comparable national trends, is very good news.

However, even with this moderate overall growth rate, the burden of health care costs on Massachusetts employers and residents continues to grow. Over the past two years, growth in consumer out-of-pocket costs (6.1%) and premiums (5.2%) have outpaced inflation (2.9%) and wage growth (2.8%.). Spending on certain parts of the health care system grew faster than the benchmark, with hospital services, pharmacy, and health plan administrative costs among the top drivers.

Overall, these findings indicate that further action and policy reforms are needed to maintain the nation-leading progress Massachusetts has made over the past seven years. We look forward to further examining the data and the implications for policy action at the upcoming Health Care Cost Trends Hearing on October 22nd and 23rd. The HPC will continue to advocate for a more transparent, accountable, and affordable health care system for everyone in Massachusetts.”