State Panel Estimates Ballot Q On Nurse Staffing Ratios Would Cost Mass. Hundreds Of Millions

The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), an independent watchdog group that keeps an eye on health costs, issued a statement Wednesday saying the state ballot initiative on nurse staffing ratios could cost an estimated $676 million to $949 million a year.

Supporters of the ballot measure — Question 1 — protested.

Their statement read, in part: "This guess on costs by the HPC is irresponsible and inconsistent and resembles nothing that the HPC has ever done before. ... There is no independent data source or transparency in these cost estimates."

Question 1's backers are supported by the Massachusetts Nurses Association. According to a recent WBUR poll, however, voters are split on which side to take, and are unclear on what nurses and other medical professionals truly want.

WBUR's Carey Goldberg wrote about the watchdog state panel's findings. You can read that story here.

Carey Goldberg, host of WBUR's CommonHealth blog, which tweets @commonhealth.