Healthcare Benchmark Initiative

Improving health, reducing costs

The Healthcare Benchmark Initiative plays a key role in improving the health of CT residents. It helps:

All residents access affordable, high-quality healthcare
Enhance spending on primary care, allowing for creative solutions to address healthcare needs
The state lower healthcare spending growth

About the initiative

The Healthcare Benchmark Initiative involves people from across the healthcare landscape to create a healthcare cost growth benchmark. The initiative provides data to legislators and policymakers to improve healthcare quality and spending in Connecticut.

These efforts focus on:

Setting annual healthcare cost growth targets for 2021-2025
Increasing primary care spending as a percentage of total healthcare expenditure, with a goal of of 10% by 2025
Providing healthcare quality benchmarks for all public and private payers
Reporting healthcare spending growth
Monitoring care organizations and different payment models

Informational Public Hearing – Connecticut Healthcare Affordability, June 23, 2026, 9:00 AM, Legislative Office Building Room 2E, Hartford

Informational Public Hearing 2026

All Connecticut residents need access to high quality, accessible and affordable healthcare. Each year the Healthcare Benchmark Initiative hosts an informational public hearing to bring stakeholders together to assess the challenges we face as a community and discuss opportunities to slow cost growth. Join us on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at the Legislative Office Building, Room 2E, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT or via Teams to take part. The session will begin at 9:00 AM. Attend in person or online.

On the agenda

Healthcare Affordability in Connecticut: Highlights of the 2024 Performance Reports

Leveraging Federal Opportunities to Strengthen Primary Care: Rural Health Transformation, AHEAD

Successful Value-Based Care Programs in Connecticut: What's working in the Nutmeg State

Connecticut's Healthcare Benchmarks 2026 Updates: Hospital Payment Growth Benchmark, Clinical Risk and Other Changes

Additional details, including speakers will be posted here when available.

Share your views

Opportunities to share your views in person may be available time permitting - Sign up to speak at the hearing

Written comments are also welcome by Tuesday, June 16, 2026 to be considered in the hearing. Post-hearing comments will be accepted through June 24, 2026 - Submit public comments in writing

Read the Hearing Notice

Program resources

Data Transparency

Discover the data behind the policy solutions to the state's healthcare challenges.

HCBI Quality Benchmarks

Explore clinical quality, patient safety, consumer experience, and over-and under-utilization measures.

Guidance for Payers and Providers

Review technical and operational procedures that payers and providers must follow for data reporting and collection.

Submit comments

Email your thoughts about any scheduled or recent hearing topic. They can become part of the public record.

Legislation

Governor Lamont signed Executive Order #5 in January, 2020, charging the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to benchmark total healthcare expenditures growth in the state. During the 2022 legislative session, Public Act 22-118 §217-223 codified most of Executive Order No. 5’s provisions into law (Conn. Gen. Statute §19a-754f et seq). OHS carries out the initiative with the support of Technical Teams and stakeholder advisory boards.