{"id":95444,"date":"2025-07-27T00:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T00:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/95444\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T00:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T00:54:09","slug":"the-urgency-of-tackling-health-care-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/95444\/","title":{"rendered":"The urgency of tackling health care affordability\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

OUR STATE<\/strong> has a chance to make big changes in our health care system right now \u2013 the kind of transformation that can only come about in a crisis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question we\u2019re in a critical moment. The new federal tax and spending bill is likely to pose extraordinary challenges to our hospitals, health plans, and ultimately, many of our neighbors in the Commonwealth who will need health care in the years to come.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But our problems predate the legislation President Trump signed earlier this month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There has long been a chasm between government reimbursement for care and its actual costs \u2013 and that gap has long been filled by commercial plans like ours, with our employer customers and members picking up the tab. That structure is straining under recent unprecedented cost increases for drugs and medical care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Businesses are forced to make painful choices between investing productively in new hires, wage increases, new equipment \u2014 or sinking their funds into health insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A recent poll we commissioned<\/a> found 40 percent of Massachusetts residents say they\u2019ve delayed getting care due to the cost. Many say they\u2019ve faced a choice between paying for medical care or housing, food, or gas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hospitals are short-staffed, paying more for people, devices, medications \u2013 everything it takes to provide our state\u2019s famously world-class care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many not-for-profit health plans are experiencing unsustainable losses as they strain to cover rising costs for care. Last year, Blue Cross lost $400 million, the biggest loss in our history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s never been a greater need for us to work together and do things differently. There\u2019s no better place, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We have an excellent track record in our state of collaboration between health plans, clinicians, business, labor, and policymakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Landmark health reform led to near-universal coverage here. And the value-based care model widely adopted in our state \u2014 largely replacing the old fee-for-service system \u2014 slowed cost increases, spurred innovation, and improved quality for many years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s under threat now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So how do we build a more affordable system that can withstand old and new pressures?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n