We need an honest reckoning with the shortcomings of Massachusetts health care and what it would take to address them
health care costs
Posted inOpinion
Behind closed doors, big decisions loom on health care affordability
The rationale for closed-door talks is that it allows participants to take real risks. Without that courage, privacy becomes insulation rather than incubation.
Posted inOpinion
Can Healey’s health care affordability push actually move the needle?
For now, the announcement of the new working group offers promise, not proof. Whether it delivers real affordability will depend less on process and far more on what happens if meaingful recommendations hit the Legislature.
Posted inThe Download
7 healthcare questions for Rick Lord
Rick Lord has a unique perspective on health care in Massachusetts. He serves on the state’s Health Policy Commission. He stepped down in May after more than 28 years as […]
Posted inHealth Care
7 healthcare questions for Rick Lord
Rick Lord has a unique perspective on health care in Massachusetts. He serves on the state’s Health Policy Commission. He stepped down in May after more than 28 years as […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. has hospital readmissions problem
THERE IS A great deal to celebrate in Massachusetts following the Health Policy Commission’s recent Cost Trends Hearing. The Commonwealth’s healthcare spending growth was well below the national average in […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting to better health care at lower cost
FOR YEARS, “MAUREEN” struggled to manage her diabetes while battling cardiac illness, asthma, and other chronic health issues. The 70-year-old Boston-area resident was not eating well and was severely overweight […]
Posted inOpinion
Drug costs at pharmacies lack transparency
AS A PRACTICING PHYSICIAN, nearly every time I write a prescription, I have to ask myself: “Will this patient be able to afford this at the beginning of the calendar […]
Posted inOpinion
Do no harm on health care spending
WHEN THE LEGISLATURE reconvenes and takes up the unresolved challenge of shoring up the bottom lines of financially stressed community hospitals, lawmakers would do well to keep in mind the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health commission report: Big cost increases from nurse ballot question
A BALLOT QUESTION mandating nurse staffing levels in hospitals and other health care settings would increase health care costs in Massachusetts by $676 million to $949 million, according to an […]
Posted inOpinion
E-scripts for opioids save lives
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER recently signed into law a bill to mitigate the state-level effects of the ongoing opioid crisis. Like other such legislative efforts at both the federal and state […]
Posted inOpinion
House, Senate health care bills fall short
THE GREATER BOSTON INTERFAITH ORGANIZATION is a community organization representing about 50 primarily religious congregations who come together to advance social justice, including issues related to access, cost, and quality of […]
Posted inOpinion
Cost barriers rise for patients
THERE SEEMS TO be a new story each day about how patients across the country are being treated unfairly by their health insurance company. Chances are, you or someone you […]
Posted inOpinion
Electronic opioid scripts save lives
A HEARING EARLIER this month on Beacon Hill underscored the critical need for Massachusetts-specific solutions to the nation’s opioid crisis. As the Legislature prepares next steps to address this critical […]
Posted inEconomy
Puerto Ricans struggle to rebuild lives in Mass.
ON A CRISP morning in November, Veronica Perez and Limarie Rivera, both self-evacuees from Puerto Rico, borrow a car from Rivera’s cousin and make their way to the New North […]
Posted inOpinion
Insurers’ ‘fail-first’ drug approach increases pain
WHEN YOU LIVE with debilitating pain it becomes a matter of degrees: How bad is it today? Can I get up and walk? Can I get through a day of […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Mass. health care spending up 3.9%
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Spending on health care in Massachusetts rose to $57.2 billion in 2015, growing more slowly than in 2014 but for the second straight year outpacing the […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Irony abounds in health agency cuts
Sure, if you’re highlighting irony in this irony-filled world of ours, the easy stop is Cleveland, where the opening night of a GOP convention that is about to nominate a […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Health care cost transparency no panacea
It has been an article of faith among many of those concerned about soaring health care costs, including Gov. Charlie Baker: Pull back the covers on the costs of health […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service, The Download
Partners at center of health care cost conundrums
On the one hand, countless studies suggest high-priced hospitals in Massachusetts offer care in most cases that is no different from what is available at a much lower cost at […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
Health care pricing regulation gains backing
Slowly but surely the case is being made for some form of state intervention in health care pricing. Attorney General Maura Healey broached the idea in October during a series […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker slashes $50M in spending
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday slashed nearly $50 million from the state budget to partially close what his administration identified as a $320 million gap between […]
Posted inHealth Care
Healey: “Stronger interventions” may be needed
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY says big disparities in prices paid to health care providers continue to hamper efforts to control health care costs, a situation that might call for more […]