Gov. Baker Hopes Proposed Health Care Bill Will Improve Access To Mental Health, Addiction Services – wgbh.org

Gov. Charlie Baker touted his proposed health care bill on Wednesday, saying that he hopes it will modernize the states health care system and directly improve access to mental health and addiction services.

The goal here was to work to encourage a framework for health care that was consistent with the nature of illness, Baker said during an interview with Boston Public Radio. We now have gaps in our health care system that no one, I dont think, really would dispute around behavioral health services, geriatrics, primary care, and addiction services.

Among some of the reforms in Bakers bill, which he proposed Friday, is a plan to require new drugs that cost more than $50,000 a patient per year to be subject to a review process with the state, and would require justifications for those prices. For drugs currently on the market, Bakers bill would limit price increases to two percent per year from the market rate at the time.

Baker said he also hopes to reduce health care costs for the public by putting an end to surprise medical bills that can sometimes result from hospitals utilizing specialists not within a patients insurance network. Baker proposes requiring hospitals to bill patients the same rate they would for an in-network specialist if they are receiving care from a provider within their network.

The goal here was to work to encourage a framework for health care that was consistent with the nature of illness, Baker said.

During Wednesday's interview, Baker also shared his thoughts on Sen. Bernie Sanders Medicare for All Act, which would gradually phase out private insurance, except for plastic surgery. Baker said hes concerned Sanders proposal would do harm to hospitals, particularly smaller ones, who may not be able to sustain themselves on the rates Medicare currently pays. There is not a consensus within the medical profession if hospitals will have to close under a Medicare for All system, given the amount of uninsured patients some hospitals provide care to.

The one thing I would say about Medicare for All is ... because of the way Medicare pays, there are many hospitals that would have a very hard time surviving on Medicare rates, Baker said. They basically either lose money or barely break even on Medicare, and they really create most of their margin on what they get paid by [commercial insurance], which typically tends to be more.

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Gov. Baker Hopes Proposed Health Care Bill Will Improve Access To Mental Health, Addiction Services - wgbh.org