The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), the independent state agency created in 2012 to monitor and report on cost trends in the healthcare market, held its annual Cost Trends Hearing for 2023 on November 8. A series of panels featuring healthcare industry leaders focused on the theme: The Next Phase of Massachusetts Health Reform: Achieving Affordability and Health Equity for All. The theme stemmed from the 2023 Cost Trends Report and Policy Recommendations released by the HPC earlier this fall.

Among this year’s findings:

· On average from 2019 to 2021, total health-care expenditures in Massachusetts increased at a rate of 3.2% per year, higher than the 3.1% health-care cost growth benchmark. The cost growth benchmark is the current statewide target for the rate of healthcare spending growth set annually by the HPC, as required by state law.

· Commercial spending grew by 5.8%, outpacing the national average for the first time in a decade, with commercial expenditures for prescription drugs and hospital outpatient care growing fastest.

Key AIM members featured in this year’s panel discussions included Cain Hayes, President/CEO of Point 32 Health; Sarah Iselin, President/CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Dr. Chris Andreoli, President of Atrius Health; Dr. Sree Chaguturu, EVP and Chief Medical Officer of CVS Health; and Michael Curry Esq., President/CEO of the Mass League of Community Health Centers. A full recording of the hearing is available on the HPC’s YouTube Channel, and the HPC’s website includes all presentation materials and pre-filed testimony from 31 provider organizations and payers.

For more information on how AIM remains involved and up-to-date on all major healthcare policy matters on Beacon Hill and how you can get involved in the conversation as an employer stakeholder, please contact Vasundhra Sangar, Vice President of Government Affairs at vsangar@aimnet.org or (617)-262-1180.”