A group of Massachusetts health insurers yesterday proposed a wide-ranging set of recommendations intended to help control rising premiums and provide consumers with more information about why rates go up.
The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, a trade group, also is asking the Legislature to hold annual hearings at which health plans would have to defend rate increases, no matter how small.
The package also contains many ideas that aren't new, and some that seem intended to place the blame for rising healthcare costs on doctors and hospitals.
Still, some healthcare officials praised the plan, which acknowledges the impact of higher healthcare costs on residents and employers.
"We're facing a health cost emergency," said John E. McDonough, executive director of Health Care for All, a patient advocacy group, and the insurers are saying, "Count us in the conversation. We'll have a seat at the table, and we won't duck and hide."
Healthcare premiums have increased by an average of at least 10 percent in Massachusetts for the past seven years. That has dramatically increased the burden of purchasing healthcare for both employers and plan members. The Massachusetts healthcare reform plan now underway focuses on ensuring all residents have health coverage. The steps outlined by the health plans yesterday are intended to control cost increases.
"There's a real concern that if we don't address the cost problem, our reform effort will not succeed, and everyone has invested a lot to make the law succeed," said Richard C. Lord, chief executive of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state's largest business lobby.
Specifically, the health plan association is proposing:
Member health plans voluntarily disclose their financial data in an easy-to-read format.
Insurers ask for public hearings to publicly discuss rate increases.
The passage of 17 healthcare laws, including a measure for hospitals to report preventable errors.
"Consumers, employers, and the state depend on those of us in healthcare to keep healthcare affordable," said Dr. Marylou Buyse, president of the association of health plans, in a statement.
Financial data for individual health plans is already reported to the state's Division of Insurance, but the quarterly reports are dense and confusing. The association plans to disclose data for its member plans on its website, mahp.com, this week. The numbers are intended to be easy for those outside the industry to understand, it said.
The effort to rein in costs is being led by Charles Baker, chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and James Roosevelt Jr., chief executive of Tufts Health Plan, the second- and third-largest health plans in the state.
"Understanding why costs are rising is the first step to controlling them," said Roosevelt, in a statement.
But the strength of the move could be undercut by the absence of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state's largest health insurer, with about 3 million members.
"We are not a member of the association and we were not asked to participate," said Chris Murphy, a spokesman for Blue Cross. "But we look forward to working with them to address the issue of increasing healthcare costs."
Lynn Nicholas, chief executive of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, welcomed the call for greater distribution of financial data, but criticized the health plans' approach.
"I think calling for yet another website and independent source is not serving the public well," said Nicholas. "Let's not confuse the public with another point of access."
Nicholas said insurers should work with the Massachusetts Health Care Cost and Quality Council, a body set up as part of the healthcare reform law.
Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.
