From Daniel McHale, Senior Vice President, Healthcare Finance & Policy regarding the Center for Health Information and Analysis’ 2026 Annual Report

“While healthcare costs in 2024 grew at the rate of the Massachusetts economy and below the national growth rate for healthcare expenditures, it was far from a normal year for local hospitals, health systems, and patients. Rising supply and administrative costs, a $200 million hole in the Health Safety Net, and the Steward Health Care bankruptcy all forced hospitals to stretch their resources to maintain essential patient care services – to the tune of a negative-2% statewide median operating margin.

“2024 embodied the unsustainable balance our healthcare sector now faces every day: the mission of delivering uninterrupted care through crisis and the challenge of absorbing ever-climbing input costs. That is why we are grateful for the state’s focus on affordability and the root causes of healthcare costs – including administrative burdens and supplies. These are the factors that, through urgent collaborative action and smart policy, will break down barriers for patients and enable our providers to not just sustain – but innovate – world-class care moving forward.”