Eight states have committed to slowing the rate of health care spending growth by setting statewide targets. However, of the five states that have shared performance data for 2022, only Rhode Island was able to meet its goal.

"These comprehensive spending data sets are a key element of these states' efforts to rein in overall health spending growth," according to research published in Health Affairs. "They are unique in that they include aggregate data from commercial, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage payers for all state residents. In short, we find that spending growth moderated in 2022 compared to 2021 but still exceeded targets in four out of the five states."

This is how these states performed compared to target growth rates of between 3 and 3.3%:

• Rhode Island met its spending growth target of 3.2% and had the lowest rate of spending growth at 1.6%.
• Oregon's spending grew 3.6%, only slightly exceeding its 3.4% target.
• Connecticut also slightly exceeded its 3.2% target, with spending growth at 3.4%.
• Delaware and Massachusetts significantly exceeded their targets, with 2022 spending growth of 6.3% and 5.8%, respectively.

Retail prescription drugs were the fastest-growing spending category in Connecticut, Delaware and Massachusetts and the second-fastest in Oregon and Rhode Island. Delaware and Massachusetts experienced double-digit increases in prescription drug spending at 19% and 10.5%, respectively.