“I WILL NOT be the governor who allows Massachusetts to become a health care duopoly.” That’s a bipartisan pledge that Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and his Democratic challenger, Jay Gonzalez, […]
Health Care
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 inHealth Care
Slow growth in MA health care spending
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HEALTH CARE SPENDING in Massachusetts rose 1.6 percent to $61.1 billion in 2017, increasing at the slowest rate tracked since the passage of a 2012 health […]
Posted inOpinion
We need CBO-like scoring of state health care bills
WHEN I WAS A MEMBER of the Massachusetts House of Representatives back in the 1990s, I learned about the concept of continuous quality improvement, or CQI, as a way to […]
Posted inOpinion
A missed healthcare opportunity
MASSACHUSETTS MISSED AN opportunity to address some of the most crucial healthcare challenges facing the state when the Legislature failed to reach agreement on a sweeping reform bill this session. […]
Posted inOpinion
5 takeaways from the Beth Israel-Lahey merger review
THE MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION’S preliminary review of the proposed BI-Lahey et al merger and the comments of the commissioners on that review surprised me a bit. Here are my […]
Posted inHealth Care
Past time to get serious about health care costs
LAST SEPTEMBER, Pioneer observed that Massachusetts had dodged a federal bullet when the US Senate failed by one vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Had they succeeded, the Commonwealth […]
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
Law needed to expand access to midwives
THE UNITED STATES IS EXPERIENCING a nationwide maternal health crisis with the worst maternal and infant mortality in the developed world. It is imperative that we do all we can […]
Posted inEconomy
Health care watchdog: BI-Lahey merger will hike costs
A REPORT ON by the state’s health care industry watchdog analyzing the proposed merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health says the marriage won’t produce the kinds of […]
Posted inOpinion
Nursing home sector on verge of collapse
MY FAMILY AND I have operated five Massachusetts skilled nursing homes for more than 65 years and we are proud of our staff and the care we continue to provide […]
Posted inOpinion
Treat substance use disorder like disease it is
MASSACHUSETTS CONTINUES TO LOOK for new answers to the opioid crisis. Despite changes to state law to require insurance coverage for inpatient substance use disorder treatment, despite the increased availability […]
Posted inOpinion
Business groups raise concerns about health bills
MASSACHUSETTS BUSINESS LEADERS on Thursday raised concerns about legislative efforts to provide financial support to struggling community hospitals, saying the measures will drive up costs and could destabilize the state’s […]
Posted inOpinion
The real driver of health care spending
THE HEALTH CARE DEBATES that occurred in Washington over the past year were largely irrelevant to what’s happening in the health care marketplace. Republicans couldn’t repeal the Affordable Care Act […]
Posted inOpinion
Study Valor Act before changing it
MASSACHUSETTS IS ON the brink of abandoning one of the most innovative criminal justice initiatives for veterans in the nation. In 2012, after a significant amount of research and debate, […]
Posted inOpinion
A letter to Larry Bacow
DEAR LARRY, As you begin your tenure as president of Harvard University next week, I wish you the very best. We appreciated all you did when you were the president of Tufts […]
Posted inHealth Care
Feds reject Baker bid to rein in pharmacy costs
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT on Wednesday rejected a bid by the Baker administration to rein in pharmacy spending by restricting which drugs would be covered under its MassHealth program. “While it […]
Posted inOpinion
Middlemen drive up patient drug costs
AS LEADERS OF organizations dealing with two of the most difficult chronic conditions to treat – hemophilia and HIV/AIDS – we consistently hear stories about how patients living with these […]
Posted inOpinion
House bill plays Robin Hood on health care
THE HOUSE HEALTH CARE BILL breathes new life into an approach taken in the 2012 cost containment bill—using some Robin Hood-like assessments as a means to improve the financial plight […]
Posted inThe Download
Trump finally pulls plug on Obamacare
President Trump is giving people more reasons to stay or move to Massachusetts. Late Thursday, the Justice Department announced it will no longer defend the provisions of the Affordable Care Act […]
Posted inOpinion
The right prescription for biomed innovation
JUST AS ATLANTA has a booming film industry and Silicon Valley has become synonymous with technology, Boston has earned its place as America’s hometown for biomedical innovation. With a hyper-educated […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Health Care
Recovery coaches could be game changers on opioid addiction
IN 2017, five people died each day from opioid-related overdoses in Massachusetts. That’s nearly 2,000 families who lost a loved one. The opioid epidemic is one of the most serious […]
Posted inHealth Care
Business groups seek to pare back ER visits
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THEIR SIGHTS SET on about $100 million in savings, 20 business organizations on Wednesday formally announced the creation of a coalition that aims to reduce […]
Posted inOpinion
With junk insurance, you get what you pay for
INSPIRED BY MARCHES, movements (#MeToo, #TimesUp), and momentum (the unprecedented surge of females running for office), women are standing up for the issues that matter most to them. Let’s make […]