If there’s a realm where the normal economic logic sometimes does not apply, it’s health insurance. And without understanding how the rules are different, policy makers in state capitals may be on the brink of making a major error by declining to include some kinds of health insurance plans on the insurance exchanges they’ll launch in 2014. Read >

Health insurance plans in Massachusetts again earned top rankings in an analysis of member satisfaction, clinical quality, and improvement processes by the National Committee of Quality Assurance. Read >

In an attempt to impose top-down containment on Massachusetts’s soaring health care costs, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick signed a law which creates a statewide global cap on public and private health care costs. The law expands the state’s bureaucracy and specifies a target growth rate for overall medical spending based on the growth rate of the state’s economy. Read >

Massachusetts hospitals are facing growing financial strains, with more than a third of them losing money last year, according to a new state report. Read >

Architects of the pioneering 2006 Massachusetts health law, which required most residents to have insurance, expected it would reduce families’ medical debt. But the most recent data suggest the scope of medical debt has remained largely unchanged. Read >