KEEP FEE-FOR=-SERVICE...:

After expanding coverage, Mass. looks to cut costs (Steve Leblanc, 12/11/10, Associated Press )

Massachusetts already has the highest percentage of insured residents of any state, in large part because of the 2006 law.

"We don't want to break the system we have, but we want to bring the costs down," said Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, who has championed payment overhaul. "It is complicated. If you move one little piece, something pops up somewhere else."

Murray said lawmakers are keenly aware of not getting in between patients and their doctors. She hopes to file a bill designed in part to rewrite the way health care is paid for in Massachusetts early in the new two-year session that begins in January.

Patrick has also said that slowing the cost of health insurance is a top health care priority for his second term.

Monthly premiums for individuals in Massachusetts have increased dramatically in the past decade. From 2001 to 2009, the median monthly premium for individual health plans soared by 76 percent, from $251 to $442.

Health and Human Services Secretary Judyann Bigby said that while premium increases have eased from the earlier part of the decade, they are still climbing too quickly. She said moving away from the fee-for-service model won't be easy, but it's needed to curb costs.

...just have the fee come out of the consumer's pocket (or, rather, savings account).

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 12, 2010 2:13 PM