Massachusetts insurance regulators have approved a number of rate increase proposals from some of the state’s largest health insurance companies. Governor Deval Patrick supports the approval, citing rising health care costs that threaten to make an already ill economy more volatile. Consumer advocacy groups have decried the rate increases, saying that they put undue financial stress on those struggling to make ends meet. Regulators, however, have only approved proposals whose increases were less than 9% in the hopes of lightening the impact of higher rates. Blue Cross Blue Shield has…
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Massachusetts lawmakers look to change the state’s health care system with a global payment plan
Massachusetts lawmakers are struggling to rein in on rising health care costs, but a solution may be on its way as the state reaches the conclusion of a three-year long study. The study concerns the state of Massachusetts’ health care system and how insurance companies, hospitals and doctors interact with one another. The state is not the first to consider sweeping changes to its health care system, but it may be the first in enacting such changes. Legislators are currently working toward a plan they call “global payments.” The basic…
Read MoreMassachusetts and Vermont residents pay the highest individual health rates
A recent analysis has shown that in 2010, the most expensive individual health rates in the country were in Massachusetts and Vermont, with premiums up to and higher than $400 per month per person, which is about twice the average of the country. The information was collected by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which drew the data from the insurance company filings to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and discovered a significant discrepancy in the rates charged from one state to the next. The researchers are referring to their analysis…
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