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An independent report by health care journalist Irene Wielawski that examines how various interests in Massachusetts politics forged consensus to pass the 2006 health reform law.

Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health/Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Massachusetts Health Reform Tracking Survey. This was the first in a series of surveys measuring Massachusetts residents attitudes towards and experiences with the 2006 health reform law.

The creation and implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit -- "Part D" -- attracted wide national attention and controversy. This paper, produced in collaboration with the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, looks beyond the anecdotes and gives a progress report on the impact of Part D in Massachusetts for Medicare beneficiaries -- 200,000 of whom are also MassHealth members and for state health programs such as MassHealth and Prescription Advantage.

This report is an overview of the first year after implementation of the Massachusetts health reform law. It catalogs some of the most significant milestones and achievements and describes how policymakers, stakeholders, and the new Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority and its Board managed a host of potentially contentious issues and decisions.

The issue brief examines how SCHIP is part of the Commonwealth's universal coverage strategy; how SCHIP is funded in Massachusetts; and the funding shortfalls the program now faces. The brief also details how the SCHIP program and funding are integrated with MassHealth, and the implications of that connection for the upcoming negotiations to extend the MassHealth waiver.

This report examines some of the important issues, opportunities and challenges facing the MassHealth program at the outset of a new Governor's administration including renewal of the the MassHealth waiver, improving the value of MassHealth purchasing, rebalancing long-term care, and providing strong leadership and bolstering staff.

This report by Sharon Long and Mindy Cohen provides a snapshot of Massachusetts’s adult population prior to the implementation of the 2006 health reform legislation in the state.

Report on the results of a September 2006 public opinion poll of Massachusetts residents on various aspects of the health reform law, prepared by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health for the BCBS of Massachusetts Foundation. 

This issue brief looks at the terms and conditions of the MassHealth Waiver, approved in July 2006, that will run through FY 2008. The July 2006 Waiver approval incorporates the provisions of the health reform law, which enacted some of the changes required in the initial approval of this Waiver renewal, in January 2005. MMPI produced an analysis of the initial approval last year; this brief updates the earlier one to reflect the terms of the Waiver as they now stand.

The federal Deficit Reduction Act enacted provisions designed to reduce federal Medicaid spending by nearly $5 billion over the next five years. This fact sheet examines two of these provisions in detail and discusses their implications for MassHealth members, administrators and providers.

An examination of how to define affordability relative to the enforcement of the individual mandate requirement of the 2006 health reform law.

A 10-page summary of Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, otherwise known as the Massachusetts Health Reform Law.

BCBS of Massachusetts Foundation report based on a Community Partners' survey on the training, tools, and resources front line staff at hospitals, community health centers, and other community-based organizations would need to implement Massachusetts health reform. (July 2006)

This report from MMPI and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center looks at Medicaid spending in relation not only to total public spending, but also to state revenues and overall economic growth. It concludes that, between Fiscal Years 1994 and 2005, Medicaid spending changed very little in relation to the economy as a whole, and therefore was sustainable given the economic growth over that same period. Looking at Medicaid spending with this broader view provides a new context for policy makers as they think about the Medicaid budget, now and in the future.

This issue brief reviews the concept of budget neutrality and, within its constraints, the options available to maximize federal dollars for coverage of the uninsured.