Future national headlines are written daily in Massachusetts. The left still says the only way to get cost control in health care is with a public option or single-payer system. Evidence shows that patients armed with cash can reduce costs. ObamaCare tries neither approach, just like RomneyCare. A new report from the Center for Studying Health System Change has some unsurprising results from Boston.
- With state policy makers deferring hard decisions in the reform law about slowing the growth of health care spending, costs have continued to increase rapidly, fueled in part by the ability of Boston?s renowned academic medical centers (AMCs) to command higher prices and attract more patients from community hospitals.
- State regulators and health plans have been embroiled in disputes over proposed rate increases for the small group market, even though the major plans faced operating losses as medical costs continued to increase.
- The fabric of Boston?s traditionally strong health care safety net is changing with most community health centers (CHCs) benefiting from coverage expansions and safety net hospitals struggling financially as the state shifts uncompensated care funding to subsidies to expand coverage.
The solution proposed in Massachusetts will also be familiar in the future, as it is to those in Europe: forbid insurance premium increases and cut payments to doctors and hospitals.
