Health Care Cost Containment
Addressing excessive health care spending growth and advancing health care affordability.
In 2012, with a broad consensus to restrain rapidly increasing health care costs, the Commonwealth enacted a comprehensive new law (Chapter 224), the centerpiece of which is the innovative health care cost growth benchmark, a first-in-the-nation, statewide target for sustainable growth in total health care spending. The law established the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) to monitor and guide this ambitious effort. To promote accountability for meeting the state’s benchmark target, the HPC can require health care providers and health plans to implement Performance Improvement Plans (PIP) and submit to public monitoring.
See how the HPC measures and reports on health care cost growth in the Commonwealth.
Health Care Cost Growth Benchmark
The HPC Board may modify the statutory annual health care cost growth benchmark pursuant to a public hearing process and engagement with the Legislature.
Health Care Cost Trends Research
The HPC presents research related to health care cost trends and drivers in the Commonwealth at the annual Health Care Cost Trends Hearing and in the annual Health Care Cost Trends Report.
Performance Improvement Plans
The HPC works to monitor the performance of individual payers and providers against the Commonwealth’s health care cost growth benchmark, and may require payers and providers with excessive spending growth to implement a performance improvement plan.