On April 17th, the Health Policy Commission set the annual 2026 healthcare growth benchmark at 3.6%. The health care cost growth benchmark, the cornerstone for the state’s cost containment efforts, is a statewide target for the rate of growth of total health care expenditures (THCE), the annual sum of all health care expenditures in the Commonwealth from both private and public sources, calculated on a per person basis. The intent of the state’s 2012 cost containment law that created the benchmark process was to link healthcare cost growth to Massachusetts economic activity. The benchmark does not cap prices or spending growth but is instead a measurable goal to track the state’s progress and to motivate collective action to moderate spending growth over time. In determining the 2026 benchmark, commissioners considered testimony and data first presented at the Health Care Cost Growth Benchmark Hearing held in conjunction with the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. THCE increased 8.6% from 2022 to 2023, totaling $11,153 in average annual health care spending per Massachusetts resident. This growth was largely driven by rising pharmaceutical costs and higher spending in hospital outpatient departments.