This collection of reports and chart packs is the latest in a series by the Urban Institute analyzing the results of the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS) which has been conducted most years since 2006, the year that Commonwealth enacted comprehensive health care reform.
Although Massachusetts has successfully achieved the lowest rate of uninsurance in the nation, thousands of individuals and families still live with the potential adverse health effects and financial impacts of not having health insurance. In 2015, an estimated 200,000 individuals in Massachusetts did not have health insurance coverage.
On November 5, 2015, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation hosted a symposium for non-governmental users of the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Database (MA APCD) administered by the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA).
There are almost one million seniors in Massachusetts and while most enjoy broad coverage and protection against the cost of many health care services through Medicare, they may also face significant gaps, finding themselves responsible for substantial deductibles, coinsurance and copayments. This report, prepared by Nancy Turnbull and Katherine Heflin of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, reviews the many private and public coverage options available to seniors to supplement Medicare coverage.
This report summarizes the results of a July 2015 poll conducted by a team led by Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D. of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The poll was conducted to assess the perspectives of Massachusetts adults age 65 and over on the issues of affordability, access, and satisfaction with their health care coverage.
In March 2010, President Obama signed The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which included significant changes impacting health insurance coverage across the United States. Although many elements of the ACA were based on Massachusetts’ health insurance reform, there were still many decisions and activities that Massachusetts needed to address in order to comply with the new federal Medicaid and health insurance marketplace requirements, most of which were required to be effective as of January 2014.
The “ Making Health Care Affordable” (MHCA) three-year grant program concluded in 2014. Margaret Houy and Kate Bazinsky of Bailit Health Purchasing, LLC report on the impact of the BCBSMA Foundation’s funding initiative. The goal of MHCA was to fund interventions aimed at containing costs while increasing access and quality of care. Bailit examines how the Foundation’s objectives were met, what factors led to successful program implementation, common barriers faced by grantees, and which programs may have generalizability.
This report, prepared by Sharon Long and Thomas Dimmock of the Urban Institute, further analyzes the 2013 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS) by comparing the experience of adults with public coverage to adults with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage across a number of access and affordability measures. Findings from the analysis show problems with access to care were more prevalent for adults with public coverage than for those with ESI.
In this issue brief, Patricia Boozang, Deborah Bachrach and Hailey Davis of Manatt Health Solutions, review the coverage and delivery system challenges that Massachusetts could address through sections 1331 (the Basic Health Program) and 1332 (Waivers for State Innovation) of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Peter Hussey, Courtney Armstrong, and Eric Schneider of the RAND Corporation conducted interviews with seven health plans and five Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to determine their support for innovative delivery system models including payment arrangements, program development strategies, and the criteria decide whether or not to support these programs.
In this report, Carol Gyurina, Jennifer Rosinkski and Robert Seifert of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, analyze several factors that help explain why health care affordability continues to be a challenge in Massachusetts, even after achieving near universal health insurance coverage.
Megan Burns and Michael Bailit of Bailit Health Purchasing, LLC, provide a comprehensive review of payment reform in Massachusetts and, in particular, how the changing landscape is affecting safety-net providers. For this report, safety-net providers—those providers characterized by serving a high percentage of Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured individuals—includes both community health centers and hospitals.
Affordability Still a Challenge
This report includes findings from the evaluation of the 2011-2013 Connecting Consumers with Care grant program. The goals of the evaluation were to 1) assess progress made across grantee sites on select outreach and enrollment measures; 2) describe the practices grantees adopted to reach out to and enroll consumers in insurance, advance consumer self-sufficiency, and collaborate with other agencies; and 3) characterize the barriers experienced by grantees.
This report demonstrates how a general-operating-funds approach to grantmaking can forge stronger and more effective partnerships between the philanthropy and consumer health advocacy communities. It includes examples of the positive impact this approach has had on access to health care in Massachusetts and highlights some of the activities and achievements of 2011-2013 Strengthening the Voice for Access grantee organizations.
