As health care costs grow, everything else shrinks

When health care costs go up, it doesn't just mean that people spend more money on health care. It means they have less money to spend on everything else. You can see this in people’s personal budgets, and you can also see it in our state budget. Nearly a third of all the money in the budget that Governor Patrick signed this morning goes to health care. Back in 2001, health care spending accounted for just 20 percent of spending, which meant that a larger portion could go to other things like early education, transportation improvements, environmental protection, and child welfare.