Healthcare Spending Continues To Grow Faster Than Household Incomes
Health care spending in Massachusetts continued to grow faster than household incomes in the latest study period, according to new data published Thursday, fueling concerns about access to care.
The latest annual health care cost trends report from the Health Policy Commission calculated a 5.8 percent increase in total health expenditures per capita from 2021 to 2022, the most recent year examined.
That’s the second-highest year-over-year growth since the creation of the HPC a decade ago, lagging only the period from 2020 to 2021, which experts described as an outlier because of a “rebound” in spending after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contrasting the surge in spending with the more recent upheaval inflicted by the bankruptcy and sale of Steward Health Care hospitals, the HPC sounded a dire warning and urged Beacon Hill, where health care agreements have been elusive, to embrace a suite of reforms.
“Addressing health care affordability in a meaningful way will be necessary to meet the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s goal of making the Commonwealth more economically competitive for families and businesses to stay and thrive,” the agency wrote in its report. “These challenges require bold action to move the health care system from the status quo to a new, more affordable, sustainable, and equitable trajectory.”
Although the latest report covers the period from 2021 to 2022, the HPC opted to focus its policy recommendations on responding to the Steward crisis that unfolded this year.
Regulators called for lawmakers to strengthen and expand oversight tools, better protect communities historically underserved by health care, and tackle pressure points like inequities in provider prices.
The House and Senate each approved major health care oversight reform legislation this year, but top Democrats have been unable to forge a compromise, leaving any proposed changes — including protections lawmakers said would prevent another Steward crisis from happening — in limbo.
