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.
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.
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.
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.
This report funded in part by the Foundation explains how and why Massachusetts business leaders became involved in health reform and the difference their engagement has made and presents the perspectives of individual entrepreneurs, business owners and executives on how Massachusetts health reform has affected their companies, their employees and the overall business climate in Massachusetts.
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 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 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.
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.
This budget brief compares the House and Senate Fiscal Year 2013 (FY 2013) budget proposals for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other health care programs. It is the fourth in a series of fact sheets 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.
Stabilizing MassHealth Funding: Options to Break the Recurring Cycle of Expansion and Contraction, written by Beth Waldman of Bailit Health Purchasing, Robert Seifert of the Center for Health Law and Economics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Kate Nordahl of MMPI, discusses the challenges and implications of the counter-cyclical nature of the Medicaid program and options to reduce the reactive swings in MassHealth funding and scope of services that can come with downturns in the economy.
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.
This report, written by Tony Dreyfus and Ellen Breslin Davidson of BD Group, provides an overview of the federal and state experience with risk adjustment in programs serving persons dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
Summary of the MassHealth 1115 waiver renewal including a brief overview of four new provisions approved under the waiver renewal.
