(Hartford, CT) – Each year the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy issues reports designed to help policy makers and state residents understand how healthcare cost growth, quality and primary care investments are doing against state benchmarks. The Connecticut Healthcare Benchmark Initiative issued its latest findings today based on performance year 2023 data.
The reports show that while healthcare quality remains steady for the most part, cost growth is leaving consumers behind. Total statewide healthcare expenditures grew by 7.8% from 2022 to 2023. All commercial and Medicare Advantage payers exceeded the benchmark of 2.9%.
“Connecticut residents have struggled with healthcare costs for several years. Too many families delay needed care, cut pills in half, and have to choose between medical bills and basic necessities like rent or groceries,” said Deidre Gifford, MD, MPH, commissioner. “Cost growth at this pace threatens to leave even more of our residents at risk. While quality remains stable, it is important to note that a high quality system that is unaffordable to residents can’t meet the goal of improving health for everyone.”
The Cost Growth Benchmark report shows that retail pharmacy and hospital outpatient spending continue to influence commercial market growth. Cumulative per capita spending growth since 2019 in the commercial market (25%) has far outpaced Medicare (7%) and Medicaid (-1%).
“Increasing our investments in primary care can pay off in both better health and lower costs. But we’re not seeing the benefit of spending growth in primary care,” said Gifford. “Not only did we not meet the primary care spending target of 6.9% in 2023, but investment in primary care spending actually fell slightly between 2022 and 2023.” The percentage of statewide healthcare spending that went to primary care services was 4.5% in 2023, a drop from 4.8% in 2022. Since the implementation of the primary care target in 2021, primary care spending as a percentage of total medical expense (TME) has declined.
The Healthcare Benchmark Initiative will hold an informational public hearing on June 23, 2025 to bring key stakeholders as well as organizations identified as having contributed to cost growth together to discuss solutions. “Identifying collaborative strategies to slow cost growth has never been more important,” said Gifford. “We have to work with providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies and policy makers to make healthcare more affordable, as Connecticut, like states across the country braces for the impact of potential funding shifts at the federal level.”
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