CHIA’s most recent total health care expenditure data show a 5.8 percent growth rate, Peters said, which represents the highest one-year growth trend since measurement began in 2012, with the exception of the “anomalous” COVID year of 2021.
Data indicate warning signs for Massachusetts health care
Posted inPolitics
Seeking a right to medical aid in dying
Margaret Miley is frustrated, in pain, and dying. But Massachusetts has thus far resisted the movement, now law in nearly a dozen other states, to allow patients near their end of their life to obtain medication that would hasten their death.
“Who benefits from this?” she asks.
Posted inPublic Records
Court orders DiZoglio to remove audit redactions
A judge ordered state Auditor Diana DiZoglio to release unredacted reports on two Massachusetts sheriffs’ departments, ruling that public disclosure of the information that had been blocked would not pose a risk to public safety or cybersecurity.
Posted inOpinion
A professional soccer stadium in Franklin Park is a bad deal for Boston
The plan to convert White Stadium in Boston’s Franklin Park into a stadium for a professional women’s soccer team, with the city committing $50 million toward the project, is bad financial deal for the city, a subsidy of $30 million or more for a for-profile sports enterprise at a time when municipal revenues are under stress.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Political Notebook: Never-ending State Police problems | Transit beer summit? | Ranking Boston’s choices
The woes of the Massachusetts State Police never seem to end, with the latest black eye coming at the high-profile murder trail of Karen Read, where a State Police investigator copped to making comments about the defendant that Gov. Maura Healey termed “disgusting.”
Posted inOpinion
Reform of ‘prior authorization’ rules crucial to patient care
Prior authorization began as a tool to monitor and control spending on costly or novel treatments, but it has proliferated to apply broadly to many medications, services, and treatments, including common life saving devices like inhalers.
Posted inGovernment
Healey’s capital spending plan puts bond bills in perspective
The state’s plan for actual capital spending dedicates $2 billion for housing over the next five years, and $400 million in fiscal 2025, which is a 30 percent increase over fiscal 2024.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis regulators allow marijuana to be transported over state waters
“This was turned around in a really quick time frame,” said Commissioner Kimberly Roy. “At the end of the day, this was about public health and public safety and patients and consumers alike having access to safely regulated products.”
Posted inBallot Questions
SJC green-lights tipped wages ballot measure
A ballot initiative that would raise the minimum wage for tipped workers and let employees pool tips cleared the state’s highest court, with justices concluding the petition’s language is just fine to put before voters.
Posted inState Government
Much ado about the multibillion dollar housing bond bill
Major bond bills set the widest parameters for possible spending. But there’s little to no chance that $6 billion in bonding power actually gets pointed at the housing crisis.
Posted inOpinion
Automatic solar for the people: Why Massachusetts should adopt electronic permitting
Rather than relying on time-pressured municipal employees manually confirming numerous require municipalities to accept electronic submission of solar permit applications.
Posted inHousing
New guidance offers key details of family shelter limits
A new law agreed to this year by the Legislature and Gov. Maura Healey put a limit on how long families can stay in shelter, and it also said no more than 150 families should be removed by the state every week, not counting families who leave on their own.
Posted inMarijuana
Lawmakers punt on issue of intoxicating hemp products
Lawmakers stressed the urgency of dealing with the issue of intoxicating hemp-based products but said that they’re unlikely to do anything before the next legislative session begins next year.
Posted inTechnology
Advocates call for cameras on school buses
Automated enforcement has historically received pushback, with opponents citing concerns about privacy and racial profiling. Previous bills that would have allowed for automated enforcement of running red lights have failed on Beacon Hill.
Posted inHealth Care
Warren bill takes aim at ‘corporate greed’ in health care
“Corporate Crimes Against Health Care” bill that would establish new penalties and guardrails for business leaders who endanger patient safety.
Posted inHealth Care
Children’s behavioral health services are teetering on the precipice
The resources to stabilize kids who need behavioral health services are shrinking and the need for crisis services is soaring. We need an intervention from the Commonwealth, in the form of greater funding that will enable us to raise clinician pay.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA is ‘barely treading water’
“We have 13 months to figure out how we’re going to solve the problem,” said Tom Glynn, a former T general manager who now chairs its oversight board.
Posted inPolitics
The most interesting part of your 2024 ballot could deal with this obscure panel
The race for an obscure Governor’s Council post – a rematch two years in the making – may be the buzziest local 2024 matchup for some voters.
Posted inOpinion
Amid housing crisis, let’s save older homes
Massachusetts needs many more new, affordable homes built to address our housing crisis. But we must also consider the condition of existing homes. With the second oldest housing stock in the country, timely repairs are critical to protect residents’ health and reduce loss of homes to disrepair. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of homes in Massachusetts are essentially “out of circulation” for families with young children due to lead-based paint that is still present, despite having been banned in 1978.
Posted inEconomy
Lawmakers from Lowell, Springfield say cities would welcome economic jolt
Two Democrats who have a chance to stamp their mark on Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to reinvigorate the state’s business climate want the benefits to stretch beyond the Boston metropolitan area.