In order to track the impact of the Massachusetts health reform law, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation began funding an annual household survey of non-elderly adults in the Commonwealth in fall 2006, just prior to the law’s implementation. That survey, called the Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS), has been fielded in the fall of each subsequent year. The longitudinal design of the MHRS allows a pre-post comparison of access to care, affordability of care, and public support of the health reform law since reform was enacted. The first three years of the MHRS (2006, 2007, and 2008) were funded jointly with the Commonwealth Fund and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
To date, the first five rounds of the annual MHRS (2006 to 2010) have provided the basis for a number of studies of the impacts of health reform in Massachusetts.
Health Reform in Massachusetts: An Update as of Fall 2010
January 25, 2012-- 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.
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Health Reform in Massachusetts: An Update as of Fall 2009
June 08, 2010-- This report by Sharon Long and Karen Stockley 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. Additionally, disparities in coverage and care have been eliminated or narrowed. Solid public support for the health reform law continues.
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Sustaining Health Reform in a Recession: An Update on Massachusetts as Of Fall 2009
June 08, 2010-- This article by Sharon K. Long and Karen Stockley of The Urban Institute, published in the journal Health Affairs, is based on the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey which has tracked the impact of Massachusetts’ health reform since 2006. The latest findings are particularly relevant with the passage of national health reform legislation.
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The Impacts of Health Reform for Women in Massachusetts
June 02, 2010-- This policy brief based on data from the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey shows that women have achieved significant gains in insurance coverage and in access and use of health care since health reform was implemented in Massachusetts. The gains were particularly strong for subgroups of women who had lower levels of coverage and poorer access prior to reform, including lower-income women, women of minority race/ethnicity, and women without dependent children.
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How Have Employers Responded to Health Reform in Massachusetts? Employees Views at the End of One Year
October 28, 2008-- This policy brief uses data from surveys of working-age adults to provide an assessment of employers’ responses to the reforms enacted under the Massachusetts health reform law from the perspective of their employees.
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The Impact of Health Reform on Underinsurance in Massachusetts: Do the Insured Have Adequate Protection?
October 01, 2008-- A 10-page issue brief that assesses the extent to which the insurance provided in Massachusetts under health reform in 2007 protects individuals from financial risk in the event of a major illness or injury.
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Who Gained the Most Under Health Reform in Massachusetts?
October 01, 2008-- An eight-page issue brief that analyzes the impacts of health reform on insurance coverage across different population groups in the state. Specifically, it examines differences in insurance coverage by demographic characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, and gender), health status, employment, and geography.
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On the Road to Universal Coverage: Impacts Of Reform in Massachusetts at One Year
June 03, 2008-- This issue paper was published in Health Affairs and provides an early look at the impacts of health reform in Massachusetts on working-age adults — the primary target population for the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law. The paper focuses on changes in insurance coverage, access to health care, and the costs of obtaining health care for adults during the first year under reform.
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