Rate of increase in health costs at 6-year low for small employers

Experts believe slowdown is unique to state market

At yesterday's meeting, members of the health care commission worried about the potential effect on pricing of having a small number of insurers in the market despite the current lively competition. After a flurry of mergers and acquisitions over the past decade. CareFirst and Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc. have a combined market share of about 90 percent.

"This is not a healthy-looking market from a competitive standpoint," Robert E. Moffit said.

The commission also unveiled yesterday the latest version of its hospital "report card," which, for the first time, includes information on obstetrics services. The new data do not rank hospitals or attempt to measure their quality, but do tell prospective patients what services are available -- from newborn intensive care units to classes for grandparents.

"We've taken a baby step today," said Barbara G. McLean, the commission's executive director. By next year, she continued, the commission hopes a task force will have developed fair ways to measure quality for obstetrics.

This is the third year that the commission has produced a hospital report. It does contain clinical information about treatment of heart failure pneumonia, such as what proportion of patients received recommended tests.