Average total healthcare costs for Massachusetts families last year topped $34,000 due to rapidly rising premiums and deductibles, a top state health official said Tuesday.
Health Policy Commission Executive Director David Seltz called that figure “staggering” as he kicked off the agency’s annual cost trends hearing, which is dubbed the “Super Bowl” of healthcare policy and brings together top industry players across hospitals, community health centers, insurers, state agencies, consumer advocates and more.
“We must also recognize that the status quo is not sustainable. We need to confront the underlying structural challenges driving healthcare spending,” Seltz said. “That includes rising price growth, rising utilization growth, pharmaceutical costs, administrative complexity and the incentives that shape where and when healthcare is delivered.”…