Gov. Stein wants a study conducted on rising health care costs in NC, ways to make it affordable

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Gov. Josh Stein signed an executive order Tuesday establishing a new commission that will study rising health care costs in North Carolina and recommend ways to make care more affordable.

The executive order creates the North Carolina Health Care Affordability and Value Commission, which will bring together researchers, doctors, insurers, consumer advocates and elected officials to examine what is driving health care costs higher and identify potential solutions.

The commission will be co-chaired by the state health and human services secretary and the state treasurer. In a separate description of the commission, state leaders identified the co-chairs as State Treasurer Brad Briner and Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sanghvi.

Among the issues the commission will examine are increasing price transparency, improving competition, lowering prescription drug costs, and expanding access to primary and value-based care. Stein said the effort is designed to build on recent initiatives, including Medicaid expansion and medical debt relief, while using data and research to guide future recommendations.

"This is a sensitive and complicated topic. This is an issue that is fundamental to our lives and well-being, and we all have our own ideas about why costs are rising so fast. But the goal of this commission is to listen to the data, do the research, and make recommendations," Stein said.

He also emphasized the impact of rising medical costs on families.

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"Health care is too expensive for people to get the care they need, and we ignore this problem of rising health care costs at our peril. Health care costs have consistently gone up more than the rate of general inflation over the past few years, and Americans are paying nearly three times as much health care expenses as they were just 20 years ago," he said.

The commission is expected to begin its work immediately. Members will use data and review policies implemented in other states before presenting recommendations to state leaders aimed at lowering health care costs for North Carolinians.

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