BOSTON — The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) has released the full agenda for the upcoming 2025 Annual Health Care Cost Trends Hearing, Working Together to Safeguard the Commonwealth’s Commitment to Health Care Affordability, Access, and Equity to be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell will provide opening remarks for the day’s proceedings. Audrey Shelto, President and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, and David Seltz, HPC Executive Director, will provide grounding research presentations.
A main focus of the hearing will be the recent federal action that has created uncertainties about the health care landscape in Massachusetts, exacerbating existing challenges like barriers to affordability, workforce constraints, financial volatility, high and rising prescription drug costs, and threats to health care access and coverage.
The hearing will convene Massachusetts health care industry and business leaders, clinicians, patient advocates, government agencies, and community members to reflect on these recent policy changes and invite further collaborative action in Massachusetts, advancing the Commonwealth’s health care goals and values.
What: 2025 Health Care Cost Trends Hearing
When: Wednesday, November 12, 2025, 8:30 am
Where: Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont Street, Boston
Press: Open to a limited number of pre-registered members of the press.
Please RSVP directly to Mickey O’Neill: [email protected]
Panels for the hearing include:
A Call to Action: Community and Clinician Voices on Threats to Access, Affordability, and Equity
Neil Abramson, Business Owner, ECi Consignment Stores, Leominster, Massachusetts
Julie Fraher, RN, Quality Improvement, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center
Katherine Gergen Barnett, MD, Vice Chair of Primary Care Innovation and Transformation, Boston Medical Center Department of Family Medicine
Liliana Patino, Senior Director of Community Impact and Development, Eliot Community Human Services
Ellana Stinson, MD, Emergency Medicine Physician; President, New England Medical Association
State Policy Response to Federal Action: Preserving Health Care Access and Equity
Michael Curry, President and CEO, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers; Co-Founder, Health Equity Compact
Michael Lauf, President and CEO, Cape Cod Healthcare; Board Chair, Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association
Michael Levine, Undersecretary for MassHealth, Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Audrey Morse Gasteier, Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Connector
Amy Rosenthal, Executive Director, Health Care For All
Innovation Insights: Transforming Care through the Hospital at Home Programs
Danny Metzger-Traber, Vice President, Strategic Business Operations, Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home
Constantinos (Taki) Michaelidis, MD, Medical Director, UMass Memorial Health Hospital at Home Program
Navigating Pharmaceutical Market Trends: Balancing Innovation and Sustainability
Sarah Emond, President and CEO, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review
Patrick Gilligan, President and CEO, Point32Health
Marissa Schlaifer, Vice President, Policy, Optum
Tracy Sims, Executive Director of Corporate Affairs, Eli Lilly and Company
Matthew Veno, Executive Director, Group Insurance Commission
Moving Forward Together: How CEOs are Maintaining a Focus on Affordability in a Time of Uncertainty
Doug Howgate, President, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation
Sarah Iselin, President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Zandra Kelley, MD, President and CEO, Greater Lawrence Family Health Center
Manny Lopes, President and CEO, Fallon Health
Kevin Tabb, MD, President and CEO, Beth Israel Lahey Health
Registration is required to attend in-person, as seating is limited. More information can be found on the HPC’s website.
