State dems hope ‘buy-in’ medicaid model for U.S.

Oct. 18--State Senate Democrats who have filed a new health care cost-control bill that would create a MassHealth "buy-in" program, a target for hospital reimbursement rates and new oversight for pharmaceutical companies are hoping the measure ultimately becomes the model for "Trumpcare."

"What is now called Obamacare started right here in Massachusetts with a Senate bill, and it became Romneycare, and it became Obamacare," Majority Leader Harriette Chandler said as the bill was unveiled yesterday. "I probably shouldn't be so bold to say, but I suspect that this could become Bakercare, and I would like to see it become Trumpcare because I think this is what the country needs."

The bill, which is scheduled for a public hearing Monday, would permit MassHealth -- the state's version of Medicaid -- to offer what the senators described as an "optional expanded Medicaid buy-in plan for employers."

State Sen. James T. Welch, who headed the group that authored the bill and a related report, said this would offer a new option for employers whose workers qualify for MassHealth, allowing them to coordinate with the program to offer "a MassHealth-type plan," with the cost borne by the employer.

"It's not adding any cost to the system," Welch said. "It's just creating a more flexible way for employers to offer competitive plans for their employees."

From 2015 to 2016, health care spending in the state rose 4.8 percent to $59 billion, according to the Center for Health Information Analysis, which attributed much of the spending increase to outpatient hospital use and pharmaceuticals.

"We hear from people all the time that health care is too expensive," said Brian Rosman, policy director at the nonprofit Health Care for All. "It would be a lot cheaper to keep people healthy in the first place."

The bill seeks to reign in pharmaceutical spending by requiring drug makers to submit pricing information and bring them under the oversight of CHIA and the Health Policy Commission.

"As premiums reflect the cost of care, addressing rising drug prices and increases in the prices charged by providers is critical to make health care more affordable for employers, consumers and the state," Lora Pellegrini, Massachusetts Association of Health Plans president, said in a statement.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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