BOSTON — September 2, 2015 — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Blue Cross) released the following statement about the 2015 Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System from the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA).

Our Reaction to the Report’s Overall Findings

Today’s Report underscores the challenge we face as a community to make quality health care affordable for the people and employers of Massachusetts. At Blue Cross, we recognize that we have more work to do to make care more affordable but are pleased the CHIA report highlighted that:

• Our total medical spending has been reported as lower than the state’s health care benchmark for two consecutive years. Importantly, based on final data, CHIA reported a significantly lower 2013 spending growth rate of 0.7% (compared to the 3.65% that was preliminarily reported in last year’s CHIA report).
• We continue to lead the market with Alternative Payment Models that studies have shown improved the quality of patient care and lowered costs. We are in the process of expanding these payment models to cover most of our commercial members.
• Our premium increases between 2013 and 2014 were among the lowest in the Massachusetts market.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (www.bluecrossma.com) is a community-focused, tax-paying, not-for-profit health plan headquartered in Boston. We are the trusted health plan for more than 30,000 Massachusetts employers and are committed to working with others in a spirit of shared responsibility to make quality health care affordable. Consistent with our corporate promise to always put our 2.8 million members first, we are rated among the nation's best health plans for member satisfaction and quality.Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.