EVEN AS DEBATE continues in the Legislature over how best to help community hospitals in the long term, a technical provision included in Gov. Charlie Baker’s state budget proposal could result in a $600 million annual windfall to the state’s hospitals, with an emphasis on those that serve more low-income patients. Baker officials wrote in […]
Health Care
Posted inThe Download
Is the state’s health cost benchmark still relevant?
One of the central duties of the state Health Policy Commission is to set an annual cost growth benchmark, a target that serves as a guide rail of sorts for Massachusetts health care providers and their regulators. But COVID has thrown a colossal wrench in the state’s regulatory scheme. In 2020, the initial year of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Is the state’s health cost benchmark still relevant?
ONE OF THE CENTRAL duties of the state Health Policy Commission is to set an annual cost growth benchmark, a target that serves as a guide rail of sorts for Massachusetts health care providers and their regulators. But COVID has thrown a colossal wrench in the state’s regulatory scheme. In 2020, the initial year of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Key lawmakers like Baker health care priorities
KEY BEACON HILL lawmakers said on Monday they were supportive of Gov. Charlie Baker’s bid to tilt health care more toward behavioral and primary care, but they worried that the $1.4 billion spending mandate over three years would result in higher health care spending. At a hearing of the Legislature’s Health Care Financing Committee, Baker […]
Posted inOpinion
Why we need to reorient our health care system
The following is the testimony Gov. Charlie Baker delivered before the Legislature’s Committee on Health Care Financing on Monday. FOR THE PAST 50 years, the US health care system has been focused primarily on promoting and supporting the technological advancement of medicine. That focus has cured disease, enhanced therapies, and saved lives. But as that focus – […]
Posted inUncategorized
Runner attempts 24-hour run to raise mental health awareness
BILL WELLS has run marathons, ultramarathons, and even a 100-kilometer race. On Saturday, April 23, he will try to achieve a new milestone: he plans to run for 24 hours straight. Wells, 53, of Wilbraham, is running to raise awareness of mental health. “This is a community event,” Wells said. “It’s an event that will […]
Posted inOpinion
Public health system at a turning point
FOR NEARLY 25 YEARS, the first full week of April has been designated as National Public Health Week. This year, it comes at a critical turning point for the future of public health in our country. Over the last two years we have seen firsthand the critical role our public health system plays in protecting our […]
Posted inOpinion
DPH gets it right on Mass General Brigham
THE LONG-RUNNING power struggle between Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest health and hospital system, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts took a decisive turn this past week. Department of Public Health regulators unveiled their recommendations regarding Mass General Brigham’s expansion proposal that involves five sites and facilities across Greater Boston. The hospital system filed three […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham withdraws suburban expansion plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM officials said Friday the hospital system has withdrawn its controversial proposal to build outpatient care centers in Woburn and Westborough and to expand an existing facility in Westwood after learning Department of Public Health staff would not recommend approval of the projects. The DPH did, however, recommend that […]
Posted inOpinion
With patients clamoring for care, we have a plan
MASSACHUSETTS HAS THE BEST health care in the country, if not the world. But the groundbreaking cures, leading-edge therapies, highly specialized clinicians, novel treatments, and sophisticated technologies mean nothing if patients can’t access them. The hospitals of Mass General Brigham, like all hospitals across the state, have been routinely operating over capacity since long before […]