Pushing for progress in primary care payments

Jessica Bartlett’s article “MassHealth to raise rates for private practices” (Business, Dec. 19) notes the dramatic upswing in Massachusetts Medicaid payments for primary care this year, with more coming next year. As leaders of the Massachusetts Child and Adolescent Health Initiative, we have worked closely with a highly responsive MassHealth leadership for more than five years to change both how much and how MassHealth pays for primary care in order to strengthen care for people under age 21 in the Commonwealth.

Payment in recent years averaged about two-thirds of what Medicare pays and half of what commercial insurance does. MassHealth is working hard to not only close that gap but also create incentives for more comprehensive primary care, including behavioral health services, coordination with schools, and access to community health workers. By emphasizing prevention, these changes have the potential to cut down on the need for more intensive and expensive mental health treatments later for youth — treatments that, as the Globe has reported, have long waits for care.

We look forward to continued steps from MassHealth to equalize payments with Medicare and for commercial insurers to adopt similar approaches to incentivize these more comprehensive primary care services for children and youth.

DR. JAMES M. PERRIN Boston

DR. CHARLES J. HOMER Boston

Perrin is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the John C. Robinson Distinguished Chair in Pediatrics at Mass General for Children. Homer is an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and senior adviser at Economic Mobility Pathways.