Senate Health Cost Bill: ‘Darn Similar’ To House Plan With A Few Departures

By Rachel Zimmerman and Carey Goldberg

The Massachusetts Senate today released its version of a sweeping plan to control health care costs. And guess what? Its 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 theres no luxury tax on pricey hospitals that fail to justify their high costs and there are more references to market-based solutions as opposed to government interventions. The Senates cap on health spending is less restrictive. (Until 2015... [via Commonhealth]