High prescription drug prices, hospital and doc costs contribute to spikes.
NFIB/Massachusetts Joins Other Business and Trade Groups to Study Rising Healthcare Costs
On the heels of some small business owners experiencing double-digit health care premium increases, NFIB/Massachusetts joined three other state business groups to study the cost drivers of the Commonwealth’s sharply rising healthcare costs. The culprits, according to the new analysis, include spiking prescription drug, hospital and physician prices, among 10 main other factors.
The analysis was based on more than a dozen state-issued reports chronicling major cost drivers. The study comes on the heels of two major healthcare reform efforts, the universal healthcare bill passed in 2006, along with reforms to that law passed in 2012.
In August, news broke that health insurers would hike rates more than 6 percent for small businesses, meaning a more than double increase from the beginning of 2015 alone for small business owners with 50 or fewer employees.
NFIB/Massachusetts, along with Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, Associated Industries of Massachusetts and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts held a forum at the UMass Club last Tuesday to discuss the issue.