Affordability Gap Remains Despite Coverage Gains

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 since 2006. This round of the survey, which was fielded in the fall of 2012, was jointly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. These results provide both a means for continuing to monitor the efforts in Massachusetts to sustain the coverage gains achieved through the 2006 health reform law and an important new baseline against which to assess the impact of the state’s efforts to improve the affordability of care and reduce health care spending. Findings show that while coverage and access to care remain strong in Massachusetts, health care costs continue to be a burden for many individuals and families.  

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

• a five page summary, including comparing Massachusetts to the nation
• a series of infographics focused on the following topics: coverage, changing patterns of care, medical debt;
• a policy brief analyzing the impact of health care costs in depth;
• a full report; and,
• a chart pack.

For those interested in learning more about the methodology of the survey, please see this report and this survey instrument tool.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will be making the complete survey results for all six years of the survey available for public use through the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.

Findings from the survey were featured at a Foundation event on March 26, 2014. See materials from the event located here.

This chartpack summarizes the impact of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law. The chartpack gathers data from surveys and analyses by state government agencies including the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority, as well as highlights from health reform tracking surveys conducted by the Urban Institute. 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 chartpack regularly.

This brief describes the Governor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budget proposal for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs. It is the first in a series of FY 2015 budget briefs produced by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI) in partnership with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. MMPI will be publishing budget fact sheets at several stages in the FY 2015 budget process, as proposals move through the state legislature.

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 brief, produced by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI) in partnership with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, supplements MMPI’s state budget analyses by providing information on special funds that support health coverage programs in the state of Massachusetts. It first describes the differences between on- and off- budget funds, and then provides an overview of health-related trust funds, with descriptions of how some will change in FY 2014.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.