Unless Congress acts, federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will run out soon after September 2015. On March 26, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would fund CHIP for two more years. The Senate is expected to take up the bill in mid-April. This report, written by Robert Seifert of the Center for Health Law and Economics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, examines the serious implications for Massachusetts if federal funding for CHIP is not extended.

This budget brief highlights the FY2015 budget for MassHealth and other subsidized health coverage programs. It is the last in a series of FY2015 budget briefs produced by MMPI in partnership with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.

This report – written by Elisabeth Rodman of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation – explains how the Commonwealth of Massachusetts chose to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the resulting changes to health programs, policies, and operations. This report serves as a follow up to Re-Forming Reform: What the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Means for Massachusetts, and describes the changes to the state’s subsidized coverage options, eligibility and enrollment policies and procedures, private insurance market, and payment reform initiatives that will result from ACA implementation.

This glossary, prepared by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation with input from the Center for Health Information and Analysis and the Health Policy Commission, defines some of the key cost containment terms necessary to understand Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012 and the health care cost dialogue in Massachusetts.

This budget brief highlights the FY 2014 budget as enacted for MassHealth and other subsidized health coverage programs. This is the last in a series of FY 2014 fact sheets produced by MMPI in partnership with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.

This budget brief compares the Massachusetts House and Senate Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget proposals for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs. It is the third in a series of FY 2014 fact sheets produced by MMPI in partnership with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. MMPI will publish budget fact sheets at each stage in the FY 2014 budget process, as budget bills move through the state legislature.

This budget brief describes the Massachusetts House of Representatives' Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs, and compares the House budget with the Governor’s proposal. It is the second in a series of FY 2014 fact sheets produced by MMPI in partnership with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. MMPI will publish budget fact sheets at each stage in the FY 2014 budget process, as budget bills move through the state legislature.

Chart of state decisions related to implementation of the federal health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Originally created by the Center for Health Law & Economics, UMASS Medical School, and Health Care For All; updated by the BCBSMA Foundation. This document was last updated in February 2013. Please refer to Re-Forming Reform Part 2: Implementing the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts for more information regarding ACA implementation in the Commonwealth.

This budget brief describes the Governor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget proposal for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs. It is the first in a series of FY 2014 fact sheets that will be published by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI) and produced by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center in partnership with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. MMPI will be publishing budget fact sheets at each stage in the FY 2014 budget process, as budget proposals move through the state legislature. Click here to see the full collection.

These fact sheets highlight the major implications of Massachusetts’s 2012 health care cost containment law, Chapter 224, for four key stakeholder groups:  hospitals, health plans, consumers, and clinicians. From increased data reporting requirements for hospitals and health plans, to greater cost transparency for consumers, Chapter 224 will have significant impacts on many aspects of the Massachusetts health care system in the years ahead.

For a comprehensive overview of the entire law, see the Foundation’s report: Summary of Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012. For an 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.

This report, written by Robert Seifert and Rachel Gershon of the Center for Health Law and Economics at UMass Medical School, examines the key components of the most recent Massachusetts health reform law - Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012 - as they pertain to the Massachusetts Medicaid program (“MassHealth”). Under the new law, MassHealth will be subject to the annual spending growth benchmark and will be required to implement alternative payment arrangements for most of its members, among other new requirements and responsibilities.  For a broader overview of Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, see the Foundation’s report: Summary of Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012. For additional information about scheduled stakeholder meetings, grant opportunities, and other implementation updates, see the state's website, Implementing Health Care Cost Containment.

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 budget brief highlights the FY 2013 budget for MassHealth and health reform programs.  Since FY 2012, MMPI has produced budget fact sheets on the budget proposal for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other health care programs for each stage of the development of the state budget as the budget moves through the legislature.  Click here to see the full collection.

This budget brief describes authorization of the Delivery System Transformation Initiatives (DSTI) Trust Fund and statutory changes to support implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

This report, written by researchers at the Urban Institute, explores four policy options for assessing employers who do not provide affordable health insurance coverage to their workers as Massachusetts brings its state health reform law into compliance with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.