Bay State health care costs climb
Report says rate slows, but remains burden
Costs for health care per man, woman and child in Massachusetts last year grew to $8,663 a year — and although the rise of costs appears to be slowing, residents continue to face crippling co-pays and insurance premiums, according to a new report.
The Center for Health Information and Analysis yesterday released its annual health care cost report for the Bay State, which found that total costs rose to $59 billion.
At 2.8 percent, the growth rate is below the state benchmark of 3.6 percent for the first time since 2013.
“It’s a good news report, but I don’t think we can put up the flag and say we’ve won,” said Stuart Altman, health economist and chairman of the state Health Policy Commission. “The amount people have to pay in co-payments has grown, and for a subset of the population, the cost of premiums is really a hardship.”
For those who are insured through their employers, premiums — the amount people pay for their policies — increased by 3.9 percent.
Cost-sharing, which includes co-pays, rose by 4.4 percent.
Skyrocketing prescription drug prices have consistently been one of the major drivers behind cost increases, but that slowed down substantially. Drug spending increased by 6.4 percent, compared to 12.1 percent in 2015 and 13.5 percent in 2014.
However, it is still one of the largest financial strains on state health care spending.
“Listen, pharmacy is still an issue,” Altman said. “What experience has indicated is that drugs come on the market and make a marginal improvement, but raise costs.”
Lora Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, said “As premiums reflect the cost of care, it is critical to address rising drug prices, along with increases in the cost of hospital outpatient care and other services charged by providers.”
CHIA was created under state law in 2012 to track health care spending. The report will be used by the Health Policy Commission for its Health Care Cost Trends Hearing.