To address current health care challenges, state officials will create a cabinet-level equity secretary in the new year to limit allowable out-of-pocket consumer insurance costs and develop a 10-year health care workforce plan need to do it. to a new report.
The Massachusetts Foundation’s Blue Cross Blue Shield framed its report as a priority for the administration of incoming Governor-elect Maura Healy. House and Senate. The report’s author identified a “broad and diverse” group of healthcare sector stakeholders and leaders named in the report’s methodology appendix during interviews conducted between February and his May. We made our conclusions based on the feedback solicited from
Ensuring consumer affordability is one of the five priorities flagged in the report. According to the report, which was produced in partnership with Manatt Health, 41% of the resident said she or a family member had trouble paying medical bills in the past 12 months. Insurance companies spend more than a quarter of their income on medical expenses.
The report seeks to extend ConnectorCare eligibility to lower-income populations and for low-income immigrants who lack access to affordable Care Act coverage through government-funded programs like MassHealth and Health Connector Authority. We recommend funding the new Affordable Compensation Program.
From a regulatory perspective, the report seeks to expand the powers of state health policy boards with cost control powers. Recommendations include empowering government agencies to enforce compliance with cost growth benchmarks, factoring provider price caps into benchmarks as other states do, and creating consumer cost growth benchmarks. This includes limiting annual growth in consumer insurance premiums, deductible and out-of-pocket costs.
Addressing systemic racism and inequity in health care is another major recommendation, with the report calling for new legislation to overhaul the structure of state governments and improve equity across departments and agencies. ensure that our vision is executed. The establishment of a new Equity Secretary to oversee the Cabinet-level Equity Secretariat is one of her recommendations, as is the establishment of Equity Her Offices within her nine other Cabinet Secretaries.
According to the report, black and Hispanic people are more than twice as likely to be uninsured and less likely to report very good or very good health than whites. , reported higher rates of reporting their mental health as ‘average or poor’.
The report encourages state leaders to “engage a diverse range of people (community members and community leaders) with lived experiences who can help state leaders understand root causes and impacts. We are asking you to break new ground in creating a culture of government and an approach to the development of healthcare policy.We invite you to join us in solving these challenges and co-designing solutions.”
The other three key priorities are to tackle the mental health crisis for children and adolescents, alleviate the ‘critical’ shortage of health workers, and improve access to long-term services and support, including long-term care. is to
According to the report, between 2016 and 2020, the percentage of Massachusetts children aged 3 to 17 who had anxiety or depression jumped from 12.2% to 18.4%, a 50% increase. did. Anonymous quoting of a “health plan leader”: It was an excuse for negligence. ”
The report recommends the establishment of a Children and Youth Cabinet to improve the mental health of children and young people. Develop a 10-year workforce plan that prioritizes long-term support and services, long-term care, and behavioral health. It also facilitates the purchase of private long-term care insurance through the Federal Long-Term Care Partnership Program, while standardizing state oversight of long-term care beneficiary protections and rates.
“With a new government in place at Beacon Hill, our goal is to catalyze action on today’s most pressing healthcare challenges,” said Audrey M. Shelt said in a statement. “Fortunately, many of the action steps identified in our report build on existing or proposed initiatives, so state leaders do not have to start from scratch. requires bold leadership, a collaborative approach, long-term focus and investment.”
