Since 2001, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation (the Foundation) has supported community-based organizations, federally qualified health centers, and public agencies through its Connecting Consumers with Care grant program. During the October 2013 through September 2015 grant cycle, 16 organizations across Massachusetts received awards to help low-income and vulnerable consumers enroll in and maintain access to publicly subsidized health insurance coverage, and to help consumers navigate systems of coverage and care with increasing independence. This period coincided with the state’s implementation of key components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

This report includes findings from the evaluation of the 2013-2015 Connecting Consumers with Care grant program. The goals of the evaluation were to 1) assess progress made on select outreach and enrollment measures, 2) describe the practices grantees adopted to reach and enroll consumers in health insurance, and 3) characterize efforts and challenges in defining, promoting, and evaluating consumer self-sufficiency. 

International comparisons of industrialized countries show that those with a higher ratio of social service spending relative to health care spending have better health outcomes. This finding is consistent with decades of research underscoring the importance of social, behavioral, and environmental factors on health outcomes. This report, prepared by a team led by Elizabeth Bradley and Lauren Taylor of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute, examines the link between state-level spending on health care and social services and health behaviors and outcomes for Massachusetts compared with neighboring states and national averages.

This report, prepared by Manatt Health, lays out a vision for MassHealth long-term services and supports (LTSS) that is person-centered, integrated, sustainable, accountable, and actionable, providing Massachusetts policymakers with a set of options to consider when tackling some of the most intractable challenges facing the Commonwealth’s LTSS system.

The vision and policy areas addressed in the report were identified through the development of a data chart pack and supplemental interviews with consumers, government officials, community and institutional LTSS providers, health plans, and workforce representatives.

Findings from this report were featured at a Foundation event held on May 10, 2016, MassHealth Matters II: Options for Reforming Long-Term Services and Supports. Click here to learn more about the event.

This brief describes the Massachusetts House of Representatives fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget proposal for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs. It is the second in a series of FY2017 budget briefs produced by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI) in partnership with Health Management Associates. MMPI will be publishing budget briefs at several stages in the FY2017 budget process as proposals move through the state legislature.

Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006—“An Act Providing Access To Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care”—was signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney on April 12, 2006. The groundbreaking law sought near-universal health care coverage for the residents of Massachusetts by expanding Medicaid, creating a new program of subsidized insurance, enacting changes to the health insurance market, and requiring adults to have health insurance unless an affordable option was not available.

As we mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Chapter 58’s enactment, this fact sheet, prepared by Kelly Love and Robert Seifert of the Center for Health Law and Economics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, presents a summary of the law’s effects, as reported in the many studies that have focused on Massachusetts’ reform. This high-level review summarizes the findings in various categories, including insurance coverage, access to care, health care utilization, and affordability for consumers. The authors also developed a full bibliography as a companion to the fact sheet.

This collection of reports and chart packs is the latest in a series by the Urban Institute analyzing the results of the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS) which has been conducted most years since 2006, the year that Commonwealth enacted comprehensive health care reform. The 2015 MHRS, conducted  in the fall of 2015, provides an assessment of the state's efforts to improve the affordability of care and reduce health care spending through the cost containment legislation titled “An Act Improving the Quality of Health Care and Reducing Costs Through Increased Transparency, Efficiency and Innovation” (Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012). It also assesses the impact of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) that began in January 2014.

The 2015 MHRS highlights sustained gains in health insurance coverage since the passage of Massachusetts’ 2006 health care reform law, as well as persistent gaps in health care access and affordability for many of those with insurance coverage. Low-income adults and those with health problems tend to be disproportionately impacted by these gaps. The survey findings are a reminder that the goals of health care reform are not fully achieved by simply reducing the number of people who are uninsured. New strategies are needed to improve access to care and reduce the burden of health care costs for Massachusetts families with insurance coverage, particularly for those made more vulnerable by limited resources and high health care needs.

This year’s results are presented in a variety of publications including:

• Summary
• Full narrative report
• Chart pack
• Infographic

In an effort to expand opportunities for researchers to understand the experience of Massachusetts consumers with accessing and affording health care, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation will be making available a public use file of the 2015 survey as they did with the previous years’ surveys (i.e., 2006 – 2010, 2012-2013). The 2015 public use files will be available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.

On Tuesday, April 19th, the Foundation hosted a webinar to review key findings from the 2015 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey with author Sharon Long of the Urban Institute. Click here to access the webinar slides.

This report, prepared by Robert Belfort and Alex Dworkowitz of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, provides a review of the primary Massachusetts and federal privacy laws relevant to the exchange of information among physical and behavioral health providers and an assessment of technological and operational challenges faced by providers seeking to integrate care through enhanced data exchange. The report proposes ways in which existing laws could be clarified or amended to better facilitate information exchange and identifies potential operational strategies for minimizing the restrictive impact of existing privacy laws without compromising patient privacy.

The Foundation hosted a webinar with authors Robert Belfort and Alex Dworkowitz of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP to review key findings from this report on Wednesday, March 30th. Click here to access the webinar slides.

This chart pack provides updated MassHealth enrollment data as of November 2015.

This brief describes the governor's fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget proposal for MassHealth (Medicaid) and health reform programs. It is the first in a series of FY2017 budget briefs produced by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI) in partnership with Health Management Associates. MMPI will be publishing budget briefs at several stages in the FY2017 budget cycle as proposals move through the state legislature.

Although Massachusetts has successfully achieved the lowest rate of uninsurance in the nation, thousands of individuals and families still live with the potential adverse health effects and financial impacts of not having health insurance. In 2015, an estimated 200,000 individuals in Massachusetts did not have health insurance coverage. This report, prepared by a team led by Michael Chin and Deborah Gurewich of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Audrey Gasteier of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, summarizes the findings of a qualitative study in which 33 uninsured individuals were interviewed about their experience living without health insurance. Findings from this study can help to better understand the remaining barriers to coverage and inform future strategies aimed at reducing the number of uninsured in the state. The report concludes with the personal stories of five individuals who have experienced first-hand the challenges and consequences of being uninsured.

On November 5, 2015, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation hosted a symposium for non-governmental users of the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Database (MA APCD) administered by the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA). This symposium updated users on the current state of the MA APCD, highlighted research that has been made possible as a result of the MA APCD, provided an opportunity to share best practices, and encouraged discussion about future opportunities to enhance the MA APCD in an effort to continuously support data-driven research and policy development in the Massachusetts health care sector. As a follow-up to the event, this summary, prepared by Amy Willis, Business Writing and Editing, highlights key takeaways and recommendations generated from the discussion.

This chart pack, prepared by Manatt Health Solutions, provides an examination of the current state of long-term services and supports (LTSS), an area identified as a priority for reform by MassHealth (Massachusetts Medicaid). MassHealth accounts for nearly half of all spending on LTSS, amounting to $4.5 billion annually, and equal to 12 percent of the state budget. Using previously unpublished LTSS data, the chart pack examines MassHealth LTSS spending and utilization, access and affordability, workforce capacity and quality. It also includes a summary of opportunities to improve delivery and coordination of LTSS.

Findings from this chart pack were featured at a Foundation event held on December 2, 2015, MassHealth Matters II: Long-Term Services & Supports (LTSS): Opportunities for MassHealth.

This primer, prepared by Ellen Breslin of Health Management Associates, includes an explanation of how state Medicaid programs generally pay their MCOs, the overall process for setting Medicaid managed care capitation rates and the various tools that states use to mitigate the risks that MCOs face when they assume financial responsibility for Medicaid members.

This report summarizes the results of a July 2015 poll conducted by a team led by Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D. of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The poll was conducted to assess the perspectives of Massachusetts adults age 65 and over on the issues of affordability, access, and satisfaction with their health care coverage. The results show that while a large majority of seniors are satisfied with the health care they receive as patients, over one-quarter of older adults are dissatisfied with health care costs, and more than one in five report that it has gotten harder to pay for health care services or prescriptions drugs over the past five years. Both concerns are higher among seniors who report poor health or a disability.

There are almost one million seniors in Massachusetts and while most enjoy broad coverage and protection against the cost of many health care services through Medicare, they may also face significant gaps, finding themselves responsible for substantial deductibles, coinsurance and copayments. This report, prepared by Nancy Turnbull and Katherine Heflin of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, reviews the many private and public coverage options available to seniors to supplement Medicare coverage. Using publicly available data from state and federal sources, this report examines recent trends and issues in private health insurance coverage and public programs to support payment of out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries in Massachusetts.