May 2 2012
The next stage in the landmark 2006 health reform law is to scale back the growth in health care costs.
The Washington Post: Massachusetts Payment-Reform Bill Would Overhaul How Health-Care Providers Are Paid
In the next few months, Massachusetts is expected to take up legislation that would overhaul how doctors, hospitals and other providers are paid. The forthcoming payment-reform bill is expected to include many incentives for hospitals to accept "global payments," or a flat fee for all the care delivered for a specific person or group of people (Kliff, 4/30).
WBUR's CommonHealth blog: Glossary In Progress: Health Reform Terms For Coming 2012 Debate
Very soon, the topic of health reform is going to get white-hot again in Massachusetts. Legislative leaders will reveal their plans for the next stage, the part left out of the landmark 2006 law: How to cut costs. Gov. Deval Patrick laid out his own blueprint last February, and now, at long last, this next political shoe will drop. To prepare you and ourselves, we at WBUR are gathering a glossary of terms that it will help to know in the coming debate (Goldberg, 4/30).
Earlier, related KHN coverage: Different Takes: How Massachusetts Can Control Health Care Costs (4/12).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente. |