On June 17, Partners HealthCare System released a report by a private consultant challenging Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s report analyzing hospitals’ impact on health care costs.  In March, Attorney General Coakley’s office released a report finding that the most prominent hospital groups in Massachusetts used their money, clout, and member base to obtain higher reimbursement fees from insurers.  Attorney General Coakley’s report also found that the higher payments to prominent hospitals did not yield higher quality of care.   The report commissioned by Partners asserts that the variation in payment to providers does result in higher quality care and challenges the methodology of the Attorney General’s report.  

From the report:

Health Care costs in Massachusetts are increasing at an unsustainable rate. The Massachusetts legislature mandated that the Attorney General produce a report to identify, understand, and explain the reasons behind these cost increases. After analyzing the Attorney

General’s Report, this analysis finds that many of its conclusions are incorrect and that its approach is fundamentally flawed.

Full report: Partners Report Challenges Attorney General’s Assessment of Health Costs (PDF | 206 KB) 

Partners HealthCare System. (2010). Analysis of the Attorney General’s report titled “Examination of Health Care Cost Trends and Cost Drivers." Dreyer, P.