The American Public on Health Care-The Missing Perspective - (Page 57)

Case Study The Role of Government in Massachusetts In late 2006, Massachusetts began implementing comprehensive legislation designed to provide health care coverage to nearly all state residents. The legislation made numerous changes, including: • Requiring all state residents • Creating the Commonwealth Care program, which provides subsidized health coverage for individuals with income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level • Creating a Commonwealth to purchase health insurance coverage • Requiring that all employers with 11 or more employees make a “fair and reasonable” contribution toward health insurance coverage for their employees Health Insurance Connector, which provides individuals and employers with access to easily comparable insurance products.37 Since enacting health care reforms in 2006, there are 439,000 newly insured Massachusetts residents, according to the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy. At the time the reforms were enacted, there were 650,000 uninsured people in Massachusetts, according to the highest estimates. Of the newly insured, 191,000 found private (or non-government) coverage, 159,000 of whom enrolled through an employersubsidized plan. Payments to hospitals and health centers for “free care” services are down by 41% (comparing Quarter 1 of FY 2007 to the same period in FY 2008).38 The success of the plan in covering the uninsured is balanced by the higher than expected cost of this initiative. The Governor’s budget request of $869 million for 2009 is about $400 million more than that of 2008, and it may still fall short.39 37 Accessed at: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7777.pdf, 38 Accessed at: http://www.mahealthconnector.org/portal/site/connector/menuitem.d7b34e88a23468a2dbef6f47d7468a0c?fiShown=default 39 Accessed at: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7777.pdf 57 http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7777.pdf http://www.mahealthcon http://nector.org/portal/site/connector/menuitem.d7b34e88a23468a2dbef6f47d7468a0c?fiShown=default http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7777.pdf

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