Analysis Of Massachusetts State Employee Health Plans Finds Narrow Networks Cut Costs, Not Access

After the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission (GIC) implemented a narrow network option for the health benefits offered to state and municipal employees, GIC spending dropped by 4.2%. Primary care visits increased among those enrolled in the narrow network plans. The quality of hospitals included in the narrow network plans was the same as GIC's other broad network options.

These findings were reported in “Controlling Health Care Costs Through Limited Network Insurance Plans: Evidence from Massachusetts State Employees” by Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., and Robin McKnight, Ph.D. The researchers analyzed claims data for 159,732 continuously covered GIC . . .