This report – written by Anna Gosline and Elisabeth Rodman of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation – summarizes the key components of Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, “An Act Improving the Quality of Health Care and Reducing Costs Through Increased Transparency, Efficiency and Innovation,” which was signed into law on August 6, 2012. The law aims to control health care cost growth through a number of mechanisms, including the creation of new commissions and agencies to monitor and enforce the health care cost growth benchmark, wide adoption of alternative payment methodologies, increased price transparency, investments in wellness and prevention, an expanded primary care workforce, a focus on health resource planning, and further support for health information technology, among others. For a more in depth look at the Medicaid provisions in the law, see the Foundation’s report: Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012: Implications for MassHealth. For additional information about scheduled stakeholder meetings, grant opportunities, and other implementation updates, see the state's website, Implementing Health Care Cost Containment.

This poll – conducted in April and May 2012 by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health – asked “sick” Massachusetts residents a series of questions related their perception of health care costs and quality in Massachusetts, the reasons for cost and quality problems, and their personal experience with cost and quality issues. The results showed that sick residents are very concerned about health care costs in Massachusetts, and some struggle with their own costs of care. Though respondents were less troubled by the quality of care in the state, there were indications of problems, especially around care coordination and communication. The poll was conducted in partnership with 90.9 WBUR and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

This toolkit offers resources to help states design and implement effective education, outreach, and enrollment approaches for populations newly eligible for health coverage. (3/2012)

An online, interactive guide to Chapter 288 of the Acts of 2010, Massachusetts' most recent health care cost containment law. This online tool includes full, up-to-date text, section-by-section summaries and links to relevant reports, commissions, state agencies and final regulations.

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This report is the latest in a series by the Urban Institute analyzing the impact of the Massachusetts health reform law. Findings show that despite the state's economic recession Massachusetts has maintained record low levels of uninsured and access to needed health care has improved. This report is based on the 2010 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS), which has tracked the impact of the law annually since 2006.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation report by Alan G. Raymond on the first five years of Massachusetts health reform implementation, including comprehensive assessments of how the law is working, impacts on coverage and access to care, and cost and funding.

This poll, fielded in late September 2011 and led by Robert Blendon at the Harvard Opinion Research Program, probed 1002 Massachusetts adults on various questions surrounding health care costs, including their perceptions of major cost drivers, who they believe should take the lead on addressing costs and how important is it for the state to take major action. The results reveal that the public is greatly concerned over rising costs and ready for the state to take major actions to tackle them.

Released on the fifth anniversary of the passage of Massachusetts health reform, this comprehensive slide deck pulls together the findings of surveys and other efforts to monitor the impact of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law. The charts in this report track the impact of Massachusetts health reform efforts on coverage and access to care, the response to the individual mandate, employer participation in providing coverage to employees, and public opinion. Data come from surveys and analyses by state government agencies including the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority. In addition, highlights from health reform tracking surveys conducted annually by the Urban Institute are included. Updated regularly.

New analysis by MMPI examining the growth in MassHealth enrollment since passage of the state's health reform law. This analysis shows that most of the growth in MassHealth enrollment (76 percent) has been in eligibility categories that existed prior to reform, and therefore would have occurred in the absence of the state's health reform law.

In 2005, the Foundation launched the Closing the Gap on Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities grantmaking area and secured the Disparities Solution Center at Massachusetts General Hospital as an evaluation partner. This report highlights stories of change from policy, organizational, provider, and client perspectives. Lessons from this report guided the Foundation in revising its funding strategy for the subsequent 2008–2011 grantmaking cycle.

Full text of Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, as subsequently amended and revised, with links to relevant agencies, reports, and regulations.  

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This report is the latest in a series by the Urban Institute analyzing the impact of the Massachusetts health reform law. Findings show that despite the state's economic recession Massachusetts has maintained record low levels of uninsured and access to needed health care has improved. Additionally, disparities in coverage and care have been eliminated or narrowed. Solid public support for the health reform law continues. This report is based on the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS), which has tracked the impact of the law annually since 2006.

This comprehensive chartbook describes key findings from the latest Urban Institute report analyzing the impact of the Massachusetts health reform. Data is based on the fall 2009 Massachusetts Heath Reform Survey.

This policy brief based on data from the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey shows that women have achieved significant gains in insurance coverage and in access and use of health care since health reform was implemented in Massachusetts. The gains were particularly strong for subgroups of women who had lower levels of coverage and poorer access prior to reform, including lower-income women, women of minority race/ethnicity, and women without dependent children.