Attorney General Maura Healey is warning that Mass General Brigham’s proposal to build three new surgery centers is likely to increase health care costs across Massachusetts, turning up the pressure on the state’s largest health care provider as it pursues a long-planned and significant expansion.
Healey, after reviewing documents from MGB, released a report Wednesday that said the project would have broad implications for the health care market. It would allow Mass General Brigham to draw new patients not just to its outpatient clinics, but to its hospitals as well, through referrals from doctors.
MGB is the most expensive health care system in the state, so health care costs would rise if it draws patients away from lower-priced providers, the attorney general said. Such a shift could also destabilize community hospitals that depend on patients with private insurance, she said…
…Amy Rosenthal, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Health Care For All, said Healey’s report clearly shows the project would draw patients into the more expensive MGB system.
“Individuals and families are really struggling to pay for their health insurance,” Rosenthal said. “Anything that adds further cost to the system right now is not something that is going to help everyday people.”
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