For legislation to improve health care cost accountability. Section 1 of Chapter 224 6D of the Acts of 2012 is amended by adding the following: “Weighted Average Payer Rate” or “WAPR”, a measure by which a sum of the inpatient revenue per discharge and outpatient revenue per visit is separately calculated for Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid. A weighted average of the three resulting values is derived, with the Net Patient Service Revenue – based payer mix of the three payers serving as weights. Not later than October 1 of every year, the commission shall hold public hearings based on the report submitted by the center for health information and analysis under section 16 of chapter 12C comparing the growth in total health care expenditures to the health care growth benchmark for the previous calendar year. The hearings shall examine health care provider, provider organization, and private and public health care payer costs, prices, weighted average payer rates, and cost trends, with particular attention to factors that contribute to cost growth within the commonwealth’s health care system.