Key Indicators of Massachusetts Health Reform Continue to Improve

For Release: January 25, 2012

Embargoed until 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

Contact:

Ellen Berlin, Weber Shandwick

617-520-7115

[email protected]

 

Key Indicators of Massachusetts Health Reform Continue to Improve

Findings show gains in access and reductions in Emergency Room usage

 

BOSTON — Five years after the enactment of Massachusetts health reform, gains in residents’ access to needed health care have been sustained and first-time reductions in emergency room visits suggest improvements in the effectiveness of health care delivery in the state. These are among the findings from the latest Massachusetts Health Reform Survey, which has tracked the impact of reform since fall 2006. The survey, commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, is the basis for Health Reform in Massachusetts as of Fall 2010, a report written by researchers from the Urban Institute and the University of Minnesota. Also released today as a Web First was a related article published by the journal Health Affairs, which will also appear in the journal’s February issue.