The AP (5/19, Leblanc) reports, "A bill aimed at curbing soaring health care costs for small businesses and individuals was up for debate Tuesday in the [Massachusetts] state Senate. Senate President Therese Murray said the bill will ease instability in the insurance market, smooth out annual fluctuations in premiums and require insurers to offer affordable small business plans." The proposal "would also require wealthier hospitals to make a one-time $100 million contribution to help slow the rising cost of insurance premiums while pressing insurers to increase the amount they spend on care relative to administrative costs."

        Columnist Says Insurers Are "Convenient Villains" For Rising Healthcare Costs. Columnist Steven Syre writes in the Boston Globe (5/19), "Big Massachusetts health insurers have been howling for months about their run-in with state regulators and the fallout from limiting premium rates. So what is the actual financial impact of the decision by the state Division of Insurance to reject premium increases for individuals and small businesses, leaving 2009 rates in place for now?" Syre says that data provided by insurers to justify premium increases may "paint a confusing picture, but" it is clear that Massachusetts' "big health insurers were in the red a year ago, and they're still losing money now." He adds, "Insurers are convenient villains in the story about soaring healthcare costs and state regulators certainly put the responsibility for most small business and individual rate increases on them without doing anything about the actual expense of healthcare."

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