Health Care Costs in Mass. Rose Sharply Again in 2022

A new report finds health care spending in Massachusetts increased 5.8 percent in 2022, well above the state’s 3.1 percent benchmark, reports WBUR. The growth rate represents the largest one-year jump since measurement began in 2012, aside from pandemic anomalies. The 2022 growth was below both the rate of growth in the Massachusetts economy broadly and for regional inflation, but outpaced growth in both national wages and salaries and national health care spending. The largest contributors to the 2022 expenditure increases were pharmacy spending and non-claims payments. Hospital services accounted for the greatest share of 2022’s total health care spending, with outpatient spending increasing 5 percent from 2021 and inpatient spending declining 1.4 percent.