Studies show that in just one year of Massachusetts' health expansion and reforms, rates of uninsured adults had dropped from 13% to 7.1%. A new Urban Institute conducted this study between fall 2006 and fall 2007 found that low-income households had better access to health care in 2007 than the previous year. There were also no longer high numbers of individuals with high out-of-pocket costs or individuals having troubles with paying medical bills.

Now, although there was a huge response of individuals with the new access to affordable health care, this has not “crowded out” employer-sponsored health plans. The health reforms began in April of 2006 and included the following:

• MassHealth – a Medicaid program
• Commonwealth Care– an income-related health insurance program
• Commonwealth Choice – this is a creation of a new way of purchasing private health insurance plans.
• An individual mandate was also formed, requiring that Massachusetts’s residents buy “creditable” health plans if affordable coverage is available
• Employers with over 10 employees are now required to either help employees pay for their coverage or contribute to a state fund.
• A consolidation of small-group private and individual health plans.

Massachusetts Families in Poverty

The families that have a household income of less than 300% of the poverty level are eligible for insurance through the Commonwealth Care program. In 2006, 23.8% of these adults were uninsured and in fall 2007 only 12.9% remained uninsured.

The families that have household incomes below 100% of the poverty level and were eligible for fully subsidized health plans with Commonwealth Care had gone from 2/3s being uninsured to only 10% being uninsured in fall 2007.

83.1% of low-income families have reported having the usual access to medical care; this is very important for establishing care continuity and coordination among the families. In fall 2006, only 79.5% reported this. Reports show that in fall 2007, more low-income families have reported of going to dental and preventive care visits.

Employer Health Plans

The numbers remain stable when it comes to the individuals who have access to employer-sponsored health plans. Low-income families eligible for Commonwealth Care and MassHealth with employer coverage increased by 5% between fall 2006 and fall 2007.

More Numbers

• Financial barriers to health care have decreased from 27.3% in 2006 to 16.9% in 2007.
• Low-income families with over $500 in out-of-pocket costs have gone from 48.2% in 2006 to 37.4% in 2007.
• Uninsured rates due to inability to find a health care provider went up from 4.1% to 6.9%. (The reform did not reduce non-emergency visits to hospital emergency depts., this study shows that Massachusetts has to supply a sufficient amount of primary care providers to help low-income families with the health care system.)
• Majority of the uninsured adults (80.1%) are young low-income males in good or very good health. This group may be more difficult to reach.