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.

Chartpack providing an overview of trends in federal revenue to support MassHealth.

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.

As a part of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform, the state implemented an individual mandate to help improve access to affordable, quality health care. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also includes an individual mandate, which differs in many design components from the Massachusetts individual mandate.

This report, written by Linda J. Blumberg and Lisa Clemans-Cope of the Urban Institute, examines the three policy options for Massachusetts with regard to its individual mandate. The state can eliminate its mandate, maintain the mandate in its current form, or maintain but modify its mandate to be more consistent with the ACA. In comparing the three options, the researchers consider several criteria, including minimizing complexity for residents, maximizing political acceptability, limiting the administrative burden on the state, minimizing impacts on state revenue, and minimizing disruption to the state’s current system, which has effectively increased insurance coverage and ensured a minimum level of benefits across all insurance markets since 2006.

From 2008 through 2011, the Foundation supported 11 community-based coalitions across Massachusetts through its Closing the Gap on Health Care Disparities Initiative. This report, prepared by Mary Coonan and Terry Saunders Lane of The Center for Social Policy, University of Massachusetts Boston, explores areas of coalition development, system change, and public awareness. It articulates strategies that worked well, challenges that emerged, and factors that explain variation to inform foundations, community organizations, and health care institutions working to address disparities in health care and outcomes. 

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.

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 report is the latest in a series by the Urban Institute analyzing the impact of the Massachusetts health reform law based on the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS).  Findings show that that the remaining uninsured are disproportionately young, male, Hispanic, and non-citizens.  The data presented also show the geographic areas of the state with high numbers of uninsured children and non-elderly adults. Suggested outreach strategies to reach the remaining uninsured include targeting specific populations of uninsured individuals as well as specific geographic areas with higher rates and numbers of uninsured. Click here to view a one-page graphic with key findings from the report.

This comprehensive chartpack features, in one easy-to-use resource, data and complete references on topics including Massachusetts health care spending trends, cost drivers, and variations in pricing, as well as key differences in health care cost trends between Massachusetts and the U.S. This chartpack pulls together many of the major findings and analyses from recent state and national research efforts including reports by the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, as well as analyses by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.

This chartpack was originally assembled by the Foundation in collaboration with Amitabh Chandra at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Josephine Fisher at Amherst College, and updates have been made by Foundation staff. This document has been designed to support the use of the charts in slide presentations, and we encourage readers to use them. We plan to update this chart pack regularly.

This report, by Robert Seifert and Amanda Littell-Clark of the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Health Law and Economics, summarizes recent efforts by the Massachusetts Medicaid program (“MassHealth”) to address enrollment volatility and provides recommendations to mitigate remaining challenges by leveraging the opportunities presented with the transition to ACA-compliant eligibility systems and programs. This report is a follow-up to a 2010 MMPI study, also by Robert Seifert and colleagues, Enrollment and Disenrollment in MassHealth and Commonwealth Care, which described the consequences of enrollment volatility, quantified its extent in Massachusetts programs, and compared that experience with other states.

From 2001 through 2010, the Foundation awarded $10.5 million to 48 organizations across the Commonwealth through the Innovation Fund for the Uninsured. The organizations profiled in this report, along with the other grant recipients, were at the forefront of delivering higher-quality, more cost-effective care. They honed a number of strategies that remain instructive today, including team-based care, case management, coordination of physical health and behavioral health care, and the use of community health workers. Their stories can serve as lessons for other providers, funders, and policymakers who are committed to the promise of quality, affordable care for the most vulnerable.

Designed by Renessa Ciampa-Brewer, winner of a 2013 American Graphic Design Award.

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.

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 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 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.