It appears at least one remnant from last year’s abandoned public-option health plan legislation still has legs.
Gov. Ned Lamont and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and advocates convened Wednesday morning to announce their support for setting annual growth limits, called benchmarks, on healthcare spending growth statewide.
“We’ve got to address the underlying costs of health care and that’s what this bill is all about,” said Lamont, who signed a related executive order Wednesday that’s expected to be accompanied by related legislation in the coming session.
Massachusetts, which launched a similar benchmark program in 2012, has seen statewide healthcare spending growth beneath the national average, amounting to savings of more than $5 billion, according to Vicky Veltri, executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, which would set the benchmarks each year, and oversee performance-improvement plans for providers or entities that exceed the benchmark.
OHS deployed the benchmark as a condition of several hospital merger approvals last year, but Veltri said the tool should be used across the broader healthcare landscape, including both public and private payers, physician groups and other providers.
In Massachusetts, the benchmark is set using a calculation that employs past average growth rates of the state economy, known as potential gross state product. Healthcare expenditures in Massachusetts have exceeded the benchmark twice in six years.
Connecticut’s first cost benchmark is expected to be set for calendar year 2021.
Not mentioned during the press conference Wednesday was public-option legislation Lamont backed last year, but ultimately abandoned amid insurer opposition.
The bill sought to offer a state-designed, taxpayer-subsidized health plan for individuals and small businesses, but ultimately didn’t pass.
Senate Democrats, including Sen. Matt Lesser — announced Tuesday that they intend to pursue a public-option bill this session, and were quickly criticized by Republicans, including Sen. Kevin Kelly, who sits on the Insurance and Real Estate Committee with Lesser. Both attended Wednesday’s benchmarking event.
