peterson milbank

Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs

The Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs supports state-led efforts to make health care more affordable for everyone. Starting with setting a target for reasonable cost increases, states across the country are collecting data on their annual health care spending and analyzing it to find the cost growth drivers. With this information, everyone in the state who has a stake in health care can work together to identify community-wide solutions to improve affordability.

This program is a partnership between the Milbank Memorial Fund and the Peterson Center on Healthcare. Participating states include Connecticut, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. See all state target values and latest performance reports.

  • "To even begin looking at what's happening in health care spending on a state level rather than national is an enormous accomplishment. Washington has different trends, different players, and a different landscape than other states. A state-specific look at the data is critical. "

    Emily Brice, JD

    Deputy Director, Northwest Health Law Advocates, Washington

  • "The health care cost growth benchmark is an important initiative. We have to be concerned with cost growth in health care because we need health care to be sustainable, affordable, and accessible without impacting quality. I believe that everyone feels they have a stake in that outcome, and that they can contribute to the goals of the initiative."

    Joanne Borduas, MSN, MBA

    Chief Executive Officer, Community Health and Wellness Center, Connecticut

  • "The cost growth benchmarking initiative has been thoughtful. I think they’ve tried to be very considered in their approach. They've gotten buy-in from both providers and payers and made it a collaborative effort. It is a step in the right direction."

    Al Charbonneau

    Executive Director, Rhode Island Business Group on Health

Highlights

  • How Payment Caps Can Reduce Hospital Prices and Spending: Lessons from the Oregon State Employee Plan

    Read More

  • The Power of Partnership: Utah's Approach to Affordable, Accessible, High-Quality Health Care 

    Read More

  • Video: A State-Led Approach to Improving the Affordability of Health Care

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  • Resource Library

    Resource Types

    Current Topics

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    Blog Post

    Oregon’s Cost Growth Target: Balancing Payer and Health System Accountability with Flexibility

    November 2024
    Sarah Bartelmann
    The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is implementing a mix of transparency, performance improvement plans, and financial penalties to ensure health plans and provider organizations take actions to meet the state’s target. More

    Blog Post

    Delaware Takes Bold Action to Improve Health Care Affordability

    October 2024
    Sarah Kinsler
    This spring, Delaware took a bold step to mitigate hospital spending growth. HB 350, signed into law in June, creates the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, tasked with reviewing and regulating hospital budgets.  The new Review Board is designed to support Delaware in achieving the goals of its health care cost growth benchmark, which […] More

    Publication

    Not Just Squeezing the Balloon: A Comprehensive Set of State Strategies for Addressing Health Care Cost

    October 2024
    Elliott S. Fisher, Christopher F. Koller, Carrie H. Colla and Alena Berube
    Abstract  Health care is increasingly unaffordable in the United States. While comprehensive, affordable health coverage for middle- and low-income people is essential, the underlying problem is that US health care itself is too expensive.* High and rising health care costs harm families, employers, and state budgets. This brief expands on our New England Journal of Medicine  […] More

    Blog Post

    The Power of Partnership: Utah’s Approach to Affordable, Accessible, High-Quality Health Care

    September 2024
    Kelsey Koenen Witt
    Throughout the country, rising health care costs are constraining employer profits, decreasing employee wages, and crowding out other state spending needs. In 2022, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox prioritized the urgent need to address health care costs in his state, calling it an economic imperative.   Recognizing that true progress required collaboration, Cox appointed leaders from both the public […] More

    News Article

    Prescription Drugs Drove 2022 Spending in Cost Growth Target States

    August 2024
    Christine Haran
    An August 8, 2024, Health Affairs Forefront article by Jessica Mar and January Angeles of Bailit Health on trends in health care cost growth target states finds prescription drugs drove spending growth in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Rhode Island — five of the eight states with health care cost growth target programs. Outpatient hospital […] More

    Publication

    How Payment Caps Can Reduce Hospital Prices and Spending: Lessons from the Oregon State Employee Plan

    July 2024
    Roslyn C. Murray, Christopher M. Whaley, Erin C. Fuse Brown and Andrew M. Ryan
    Policy Points Abstract The State of Oregon passed legislation in 2017 that prohibits hospitals from charging the state employee plan more than 200% of what Medicare pays for in-network hospital facility services and 185% for out-of-network prices. The law took effect starting in October 2019 and led to reductions in hospital services that generated more […] More

    News Article

    What Legislators Need to Know About Hospitals and Health Care Affordability

    July 2024
    Christine Haran
    Drawing on the Peterson-Milbank hospital financial analysis guides, this slide deck explains how rising hospital spending is driving health care spending growth. It outlines policy options to help contain hospital spending growth, and why understanding the financial health of a state’s health systems should inform policy choices designed to improve the affordability of health care. More

    News Article

    Health Care Spending in Rhode Island Stayed Under Growth Target

    May 2024
    Christine Haran
    Rhode Island met its health care cost growth target in 2022, according to the 2024 health care spending and quality report released by the Office of the Health Insurance Commission (OHIC) at a public hearing earlier this month. More

    Publication

    To Transparency and Beyond: Snapshots of States Using Cost Growth Targets to Improve Health Care Affordability

    May 2024
    Martha Hostetter
    This series of state profiles shows how each state in the Peterson-Milbank program has approached one or two of the cost growth target program implementation activities. More

    Blog Post

    To Adjust or Not to Adjust: Health Care Cost Growth Target States’ Responses to Inflation

    April 2024
    Matthew Reynolds and Alyssa Vangeli
    Over the last few years, health care cost growth target states had to make difficult decisions about whether and how the dramatic increase in inflation should impact existing cost growth target values and/or the process and methodology for setting new cost growth target values. More