State holding listening sessions on healthcare
BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll administration is holding six public listening sessions as it moves forward with recommendations to lower healthcare costs for Massachusetts families and small businesses.
Hosted by the Division of Insurance, the virtual sessions will gather input from patients, providers, insurers, employers and other stakeholders to help shape new state regulations aimed at lowering costs and stabilizing insurance premiums. The sessions are a next step in implementing recommendations released this month by the Health Care Affordability Working Group, which has been working to identify immediate and long-term ways to make healthcare more affordable.
“Healthcare costs are too high, and they’re putting real pressure on families and small businesses across Massachusetts,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “We created our Health Care Affordability Working Group and brought together patients, providers, insurers and employers to identify ways to lower costs, and now we’re moving those recommendations forward. These listening sessions are an important next step in delivering meaningful relief.”
The listening sessions will focus on two recommendations from the Health Care Affordability Working Group that the Division of Insurance is moving forward:
- Reducing Out-of-Network Costs: Developing new standards to protect patients and reduce excessive out-of-network healthcare costs.
- Stabilizing the Small Business and Individual Markets: Exploring changes to strengthen the individual and small group insurance market and help moderate premiums.
The Division of Insurance will hold all six listening sessions virtually:
- Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 11 a.m.
- Thursday, Oct. 1, at 10 a.m.
- Monday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m.
- Monday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m.
- Monday, Nov. 2, at 10 a.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, at 10 a.m.
Patients, consumer advocates, healthcare providers, insurers, employers and other interested stakeholders are encouraged to participate. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/OutofNetworkCosts or tinyurl.com/StabilizingMarkets.
State fire departments achieve nation’s fourth-highest emergency response reporting rate
STOW — The Department of Fire Services has announced that Massachusetts fire departments have achieved the fourth-highest reporting rate in the country for the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS).
Ninety percent of Massachusetts fire departments have reported more than 1.3 million apparatus responses to more than 788,000 incidents. This achievement reflects the state’s commitment to leading the nation in public safety data collection, and will help local and state officials make informed decisions about operations, policies, fire prevention messaging, grant applications, budget proposals and updates to fire safety codes.
NERIS provides unprecedented public access to incident response data through its newly launched public website. Unlike its 50-year-old predecessor, which required a lengthy data validation process, NERIS allows users to view near-real-time incident data from cities and towns across the country and conduct independent analysis using dozens of data fields.
“Adopting an entirely new data reporting system was a seismic shift for fire departments across the country,” State Fire Marshal Jon Davine said in a statement. “They have done a phenomenal job of adapting to NERIS and bringing Massachusetts to the nation’s forefront. I also want to recognize our staff for helping to bring the state’s fire service onboard in a matter of months.”
NERIS rolled out in geographic phases throughout 2025. Most Massachusetts fire departments began transitioning to the new system in October and several volunteered to serve as early adopters, including Belchertown, Beverly, Bourne, Dudley, Gill, Greenfield, Huntington, Pittsfield, Sandisfield, Springfield and Walpole. The new system replaces the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) and the state-level system, the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS).