Dive Brief:
- A new report on national health spending trends in 2013 has concluded that Massachusetts leads the nation in percentage of residents with health insurance, and that it also spends more on healthcare per person than in any other state in the US.
- According to the report, the state spent $9,278 per person on healthcare in 2009, which was 36% higher than the national average of $6,815; it was also 11.2% higher than next highest state, New York, which spent $8,341.
- Researchers found that healthcare spending accounted for 16.6% of the state economy in 2012, down from 16.8% in 2009.
Dive Insight:
Massachusetts health statistics are closely watched, as its health reform law was used as a model for the federal health reform law, the Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act. Therefore, the slowdown in spending between 2009 and 2012 is of interest. However, the reports on authors apparently won't speculate on whether the spending slowdown was the result of healthcare reform or the recession. It seems we will need even more distance from the enactment of Massachusetts health reforms to see what we can learn about health reform generally.