Creating a Toolkit of State Strategies to Contain Health Care Costs

The project aims to create a toolkit to support state implementation of evidence-based strategies to control health care costs, focusing primarily on policies applicable to the commercial market due to its outsized impact in driving health care cost growth. The project will identify 10 strategies organized by cost driver (e.g., hospital prices or market consolidation) to contain health care costs that will appeal to a wide variety of states. For each of the strategies, the project will develop a concise review that describes how to operationalize the policy and offers key contextual considerations for states (e.g., regulatory capabilities, potential impact of state employee health programs or Medicaid, health care market dynamics, etc.). The project will use a literature review to survey the landscape of policy options and recent state activity to identify policy strategies.