Massachusetts Lawmakers OK Health Cost Bill

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers have given final approval to a bill designed to save up to $200 billion in health care costs over the next 15 years.

Gov. Deval Patrick said he looks forward to signing the bill.

Legislative leaders say the bill will help guarantee the future of the state’s landmark health care law and make Massachusetts the first state to set a goal limiting the future growth of health care costs.

The bill also encourages the creation of “accountable care organizations” that take a more coordinated approach to medicine, give residents better access to their medical records and cut down on unnecessary testing. Five such organizations already exist in Massachusetts.

The legislation also includes $135 million in grants to help community hospitals adopt electronic medical records systems.

Patrick said the bill builds on the state’s existing health care record.

“With over 98% of our residents insured today, we’ve shown the nation how to extend coverage to everyone,” Patrick said in a statement. “Now we are poised to do the same on controlling costs.”

Bringing spiraling insurance and other health costs under control is seen as critical to the long-term success of the Massachusetts health care law signed in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican.

That law — which became the blueprint for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 — expanded access to health coverage, but did little to rein in premiums and other medical costs that have threatened to undermine the law’s fiscal stability.

Senate President Therese Murray warned in April that “annual double-digit health care costs increases outpace other expenses and strain the budgets of our businesses, out families, and our government.”

Sen. Richard Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat and a member of the 6-member conference committee that crafted the final compromise bill, said a top aim of the bill is to set limits on the growth of medical spending.

“This is the first time any state had attempted to set a cost growth goal close to the inflation rate,” Moore said.

The bill’s provision for accountable care organizations is considered critical to the transition from a more piecemeal approach to medical care, in which doctors are paid for each test or procedure, toward a system focused on the best way to maintain a patient’s overall health.

Rep. Steven Walsh, D-Lynn, who also worked on the final version of the bill, said he’s confident it will benefit patients, health care providers and businesses — which could see a reduction on the cost of health premiums.