In just three years, medical spending on privately insured Massachusetts residents grew more than 15%, fueled in large part by outpatient care in expensive hospitals, according to three reports examining the state's climbing healthcare costs. The findings by Massachusetts regulators bolster Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal to give the state the power to cap healthcare price increases. The reports also provide a preview of state hearings scheduled to begin March 16 to investigate why medical costs in Massachusetts are so high compared with the United States as a whole, the Boston Globe reports.
