Do ya think controlling health care costs is a challenge?
Massachusetts has long billed itself as a leader in health care reform and like the federal government it promoted the expansion of coverage as the same thing as real reform. As health care costs continue to escalate, the State tries capping premiums which is like celebrating over a vein of Fools Cold. At the same time there is talk about changing the payment system. Now, according to Boston.com here is where they are: “The state’s ambitious, first-in-the-nation plan to transform how hospitals and doctors are paid is on hold, at least for this year, largely because of disagreements among key officials, legislators, and providers over how best to control health care spending. Senate President Therese Murray, a leading advocate of payment changes, said in an interview that she will not file legislation to change the system this year, as originally planned, because of the logistical and political complexity of changing a system that has been in place for decades. The current payment syste
