Health Policy Commission

Health care costs continue to grow – the Health Policy Commission's 2024 Health Care Cost Trends Report details that total annual health care expenditures per Massachusetts resident grew 5.8 percent in 2022, from $9,700 to more than $10,264. Massachusetts had the second-highest insurance premiums in the country, and the number of Massachusetts privately-insured residents who did not get needed health care due to cost increased from 600,000 to 900,000 from 2021 to 2023. Across all categories of care, the dominant factor driving this growth was higher prices, not more care being provided. Responsive to mounting affordability issues and the ongoing impact of the dissolution of Steward Health Care, the HPC has outlined policy recommendations to better protect the health care system, workforce, and patients from predatory actors, strengthen market oversight and transparency, and ensure greater market stability moving forward. 📃Read the 2024 Health Care Cost Trends Report and policy recommendations: https://lnkd.in/eScyUciB 📊Explore the interactive overview and dashboard: https://lnkd.in/eiizAwGw #HealthPolicy #HealthEquity

🎉Happy anniversary to the HPC’s BESIDE investment program!🎉 Today we celebrate awardees Baystate Health and Boston Medical Center (BMC) who have been working since 2021 to address #RacialInequities in #MaternalHealth care through expanding access to culturally congruent doula services for Black birthing people.  🎥Watch the new BESIDE video to learn more about this important birth equity initiative: https://lnkd.in/eXJSJtin 🔗Visit the HPC’s BESIDE webpage: https://lnkd.in/eakz9Rte #BirthEquity #RacialEquity #MaternalHealth #Doulas 

CHIA research has found that one in 10 people in Massachusetts have an unmet need for mental health and substance use treatment and that challenges persist in recruiting and retaining behavioral health providers.    Now, CHIA’s sister agency, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, is requesting nominations for individuals to contribute their expertise, leadership, and perspectives to the newly formed Behavioral Health Workforce Center Advisory Group.   You can nominate yourself or others through Friday, Nov. 15 at 12 PM. The nomination form and further information, including nominee criteria and submission instructions, are at https://lnkd.in/eApyEw5i.    The advisory group’s responsibilities include shaping:     • A comprehensive study and analysis of rates paid for behavioral health services by both private and public payers.     • A study of licensure and certification processes for the behavioral health workforce.     • A study to establish baseline behavioral health workforce needs throughout the Commonwealth with recommendations and strategies to meet those needs. The HPC is seeking viewpoints that represent all aspects of behavioral health care delivery in the Commonwealth, including provider types, settings, experiences, training, licensure/credentialing, professional development and funding. Clinicians, leadership from public and private payers, researchers, community advocates and other interested parties are eligible to serve with the advisory group. 

The 2024 Annual Cost Trends Hearing: From Crisis to Stability: The Path to a More Affordable, Accessible, and Equitable Health Care System is 2 weeks away! 📆Thursday, November 14 🔗Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eKFPNykw

HPC Executive Director David Seltz was honored to join industry leaders at the State House News Service event, “Urgent Treatment: Mass. Health Care after Steward.” Director Seltz opened the event with a discussion on the future of the Mass. health care system, and opportunities to stabilize and improve this system.

💡 Are you interested in strengthening the behavioral health workforce in Massachusetts?   The HPC has launched the Behavioral Health Workforce Center (BHWC) and is seeking members for its advisory group. Advisory group members will support the BHWC’s goals of improving education and training pipelines, increasing diversity and cultural competency, enhancing opportunities for professional growth, and retaining behavioral health providers in the workforce.   Use your voice to positively impact behavioral health care in Massachusetts by nominating yourself or someone you know.   🔗 Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/eCws4Ty2 📅 Deadline: November 15   #BehavioralHealth #HealthPolicy #WorkforceDevelopment #BehavioralHealthEquity

Last week, HPC Executive Director David Seltz was a panelist at the Future of Aging Forum: Aligning Social and Health Care to Advance Health, Equity, and Independence. David spoke alongside Jason Flood, Dr. Vicki Fung, and John Madondo about the challenges facing the Massachusetts health care system, and the path forward to a health care system that is more affordable, accessible, and equitable for all Commonwealth residents. Thank you to Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services for spotlighting these critical issues and convening important conversations! #HealthEquity #HealthPolicy

📣The HPC’s HEART-BP investment program has awarded $1.5 million to obstetric service providers to address maternal health inequities through remote blood pressure monitoring! HEART-BP awards aim to support providers seeking to improve outcomes, lower costs, and address maternal health inequities. Awardees include: Berkshire Health Systems, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Beverly Hospital, Heywood Healthcare, and Signature Healthcare, MA Brockton Hospital. HEART-BP-funded programs will implement remote blood pressure monitoring for birthing people, with an emphasis on populations experiencing disproportionate prevalence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and/or risk of severe maternal morbidity in areas and populations, including Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic birthing people. Learn more about the HEART-BP program and awardees: https://lnkd.in/epecm9pd #MaternalHealthEquity #BirthEquity #HypertensiveDisorders #RemoteMonitoring  

The Health Policy Commission (HPC) is searching for a Manager for the HPC’s NEW Behavioral Health Workforce Center (BHWC)! The BHWC Manager will support the BHWC's mission of making data-informed policy recommendations to strengthen the supply, distribution, and diversity of the behavioral health workforce in Massachusetts. Learn more about the BHWC: https://lnkd.in/eApyEw5i Apply: https://lnkd.in/eV5GG6ag #Hiring #HealthPolicy #BehavioralHealth 

As we reflect on #NationalRecoveryMonth, the HPC honors awardees of the C4SEN investment program, which supported awardees’ efforts to improve the quality of care for substance-exposed newborns and their caregivers. 📑Read the HPC’s latest publication highlighting C4SEN awardee Berkshire Medical Center’s experience and reflections on building and managing their Berkshire Connections program: https://lnkd.in/ed8AXN6F  💡Learn more about HPC investment programs that worked to address the needs of patients and families impacted by substance use disorder, including the OUD track of the SHIFT-Care Investment Program: https://lnkd.in/ePYX-WT5 #SubstanceUseDisorder #HealthEquity