Friday, 14 March 2008
Massachusetts Considers Changing Way Doctors Are Paid
Costs are skyrocketing in Massachusetts. From 2002 to 2006, spending on healthcare has gone up 33 percent to $62.1 billion every year, reported the Boston Globe.
Now lawmakers and health care experts are looking for any solutions to reduce state health care spending.
One big change would be to overhaul the way doctors are paid. The new system, supported by health officials, would pay doctors and hospitals on the services treated. It would also stop paying for “botched treatment” and increase payments for care improvements, wrote the Globe.
The bill, proposed by State Senate Majority Leader Therese Murray, would also cut costs by requiring health care providers to switch to electronic records in eight years, and ban gifts to doctors by drug companies.
It would also require any rate increase over 7 percent be subject to a public hearing.
“We cannot afford to stand by and let [these skyrocketing costs] continue,” said Senator Murray.Technorati Tags: healthcare costs Massachusetts doctors payment
