Massachusetts health insurance quotes are still higher than Gov. Deval Patrick desires.  According to the article “Mass Gov Renews Push for Lower Health Care Costs” by Bob Salsberg on Business Week, Patrick is very frustrated that his efforts to lower health care costs in the state are moving so slow through legislature.

Patrick’s bill on health care costs seeks to give hospitals and doctors rewards for improving the care of their patients while keeping expenses down.  Through limiting expensive tests that aren’t truly necessary he hopes to give the state more regulation over health insurance quotes in the state of Massachusetts.  House Speaker Robert DeLeo believes costs should come down but he wants lawmakers to closely look at this bill before pushing it through to be sure it’s going to accomplish its goals.

Patrick also said he hopes separate legislation will aim to bring down employee health care costs for cities but this paperwork hasn’t come across his desk just yet.  He’s disappointed cities can’t implement the benefits yet because of how slow legislation is going.  The House may include a similar version of this plan as part of its Massachusetts budget proposal due to be released in late April.

Many Massachusetts hospitals and insurance companies have said they support the governor’s bill but question whether the transition will truly bring down health care costs significantly or at all for that matter.  President of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, Lora Pellegrini, said insurance companies cannot be expected to make large drops in premiums while hospitals and providers are driving up costs.