Mass. Gov. Patrick: Cut Health Care Costs, Allow Government A Role

Patrick said he is confident the commonwealth can slow the growth of health care costs, although he did not endorse either of two proposals before the legislature. He also defended the effort to provide universal health care.

Boston Globe: Patrick Pushes Health Care Cost Controls
Governor Deval Patrick said Tuesday he is confident that health care cost increases can be slowed to no more than the annual growth of the Massachusetts economy without harming the hospitals and doctors that make up the state’s dominant industry. Speaking to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Patrick did not explicitly put his support behind either of the two cost-containment bills being debated in the Legislature. However, he said he probably would not support anything that allows health spending to continue to grow more quickly than the gross state product, a measure of economic activity (Johnson and Conaboy, 5/16).

Boston Globe: Patrick Defends Universal Care, Urges Cost Control
Speaking to both state and national audiences, Governor Deval Patrick today defended the idea of government promoting near universal health care, even as he called on lawmakers, health care providers, and the business community to work jointly on controlling its cost. The twin targets reflected his role both as leader of the state and a top surrogate speaker for President Obama. The Democratic president is defending his federal health care overhaul from criticism by Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who enacted the state’s health care reforms when he preceded Patrick as Massachusetts governor (Johnson, 5/15).

WBUR’s CommonHealth blog: Patrick To Business: Cut Health Care Costs Aggressively, Let Government Play A Role 
For the first time since lawmakers in the Massachusetts House and Senate unveiled separate plans to cut health care costs, Gov. Deval Patrick is weighing in. At a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast this morning, Patrick told business leaders that the state should set aggressive spending targets, let government play a role in keeping insurance premiums down, and not necessarily create an entirely new agency to oversee the new reforms (Zimmerman, 5/15).

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