Mass. Senate to release plan to revamp health payments

Politico Pro: Mass. Payment Reform Bill Set For Release
The battle lines are being drawn in Massachusetts for an effort to remake the state's health care delivery system and slow surging health care costs. Lawmakers in the state Senate are preparing to release a bill Wednesday that would require publicly funded insurance plans -; including the state's Medicaid program -; to take steps to curb fee-for-service payments by July 2014. The plans would be required to adopt new payment methodologies that offer doctors financial incentives to keep patients healthy (Cheney, 5/9).

Boston Globe: 2 Mass. Plans Vie For Savings On Health Care
Massachusetts Senate leaders' plan to tame medical costs will call for less-aggressive spending limits on the health care industry than the House proposed last week, and fewer controls on high-priced hospitals and doctors, according to a summary provided to the Globe. The Senate legislation is to be unveiled Wednesday, and in interviews Tuesday, both House and Senate leaders stressed the similarities in their approaches (Kowalczyk, 5/9).

WBUR: Senate Health Cost Bill: 'Darn Similar' To House Plan, With A Few Differences
The Massachusetts Senate today released its version of a sweeping plan to control health care costs. And guess what? It's pretty close to the sweeping plan the House released last week. Both emphasize preventive care and wellness. Both place a specific cap on the growth of health spending linked to the growth of the state economy. And both envision shifting more care into systems that put doctors on a budget instead of paying per procedure. In the details, the Senate plan may be slightly more business-friendly (Zimmerman and Goldberg, 5/9).