Health care costs are up nationwide, but in Maryland, hospitals and health systems are controlling health care spending while improving the quality of care.

That is an impressive win under our unique agreement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which requires all payers — Medicare, Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance plans, and others — to pay the same rates.

To communicate this type of success and other evidence of our hospitals’ and health systems’ impact, we are launching a new product: MHA Insight.

This publication is meant to crystallize the Maryland hospital and health system story by taking a handful of topics each year and telling them in a concise, compelling manner. With analyses and visual presentation of the facts and figures, we plan to leverage MHA Insight to inform and influence audiences on your behalf. And, you can use this informative piece with your leadership, boards and internal staff, as well as for advocacy with elected officials and others.

In our first issue, we focus on hospital spending and employer-sponsored plans’ cost experience and trends in premiums. The bottom line: The Maryland Model succeeds in limiting hospital spending. Yet, while Maryland’s hospitals are managing to slow the rising cost of care, consumers are not seeing the benefit.

In fact, between 2013 and 2017:

• Single coverage premiums in Maryland grew by 14.8%
• Average out-of-pocket caps grew by 45.6%
• Deductibles grew by 42.9%