Promising Practices to Understand and Address Health Care Cost Growth

Health care cost growth benchmarking programs can provide a structure and process for increasing health system transparency and developing strategies for containing costs.

As states grow increasingly concerned with rising health care costs, establishing health care cost growth benchmarking programs can provide a structure and process for increasing health system transparency and developing strategies for containing costs. At least eight states have adopted benchmarking programs that bring stakeholders together to set cost growth targets for health care spending, collect data from payers to measure progress, and identify where policy or program action may be required.