BAY STATE CARE STILL EXPENSIVE
Health costs 2nd highest in U.S.
Massachusetts has dropped behind Alaska when it comes to most expensive health care spending by state, according to new federal data that included a small dose of good news about future medical costs.
The average Bay Stater spent $10,559 on health care in 2014, the second-highest per capita amount for any state, topped only by Alaska’s average of $11,064, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that was presented by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission yesterday.
The U.S. average for health care spending that year was $8,045.
The second-place finish is a minor improvement from the last time the data was published in 2009, when Massachusetts was the most expensive state at $9,417.
The silver lining in the federal data is a sign that Massachusetts is making some headway when it comes to reining in medical costs.
From 2009 to 2014, health care spending in the Bay State grew 2.32 percent per year — the fourth lowest growth rate of any state behind Arizona, North Carolina and Hawaii.
“Someone once described situations like this as: Better but not well,” commission board member David Cutler told the Herald. “That is what is happening. The commonwealth is getting better ... but not well, as in there is still a long way to go. This tells us we need to keep going.” Cutler said if Massachusetts keeps its spending growth rate at the bottom of the pack, its standing for average health care spending should slide down the list.
“The hope is we decline,” he said.
Although average hospital spending and average physician spending in Massachusetts were higher than the U.S. average, growth rates were down sharply for both measures since 2009, according to the federal numbers.
Massachusetts lowered its spending relative to the national average for hospitals, physicians and nursing care, but saw increases in drug spending and a spike in home health spending.
Health Policy Commission Executive Director David Seltz said the report shows “some progress Massachusetts has made in terms of cost containment,” but warned against glossing over the fact that the state is still second most costly with significant “affordability challenges that remain.”