Dive Brief:
- Massachusetts' healthcare spending increased 4.8% last year, double that of 2013, and much higher than inflation in 2014 (1.6%). Total state healthcare spending in 2014 was estimated at $54 billion, an average of $8,010 per person.
- According to the state's Center for Health Information and Analysis, the increased spending was focused in the Medicaid program, MassHealth, which experienced a 19% spending surge last year. The program provides insurance to 1.8 million low-income residents.
- The federal government estimates that per capita healthcare spending will increase 4.9 percent every year nationally through 2024.
Dive Insight:
Massachusetts' healthcare costs reflects expanded access to medical services, expensive new drugs and an aging population.
Other factors driving up costs include increased drug spending of 13%, and more people enrolling in high-deductible health plans with lower premiums, but much higher out of pocket payments for medical services. Approximately 19% of state residents were enrolled in high-deductible plans last year, versus 14% in 2012.
Brian Rosman, research director of Health Care for All, a consumer advocacy group, told The Boston Globe: "It is terribly disappointing for all of us who have been working on healthcare cost control. But I'm not sure if this is a temporary fluke or if we've strayed from the path."
Analysts also voiced concern whether this indicates a new trend. Stuart Altman, chairman of the Health Policy Commission, the state agency that monitors costs, questioned whether "[i]f it's the result of a temporary growth in enrollment, if it's the result of more structural issues - at this point, we just don't know." The increase of those enrolled in high-deductible plans can place much greater healthcare cost burdens on consumers.