The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) continues to be in the news.
Not only does ACA remain a key issue in the Republican presidential debates, but soon the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the constitutionality of certain aspects of the act itself.
As the rhetoric about health reform continues, Massachusetts’ pioneering health reform law (MGL Chapter 58) is also in the news. First, because of former Governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s role in the creation of Massachusetts act, and because many of the components of the state law (insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion and mandatory coverage) are provisions found in the ACA.
So now that we are in the sixth year of health reform here in Massachusetts, how is it going?
A study funded by our colleagues at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and recently published in
Health Affairs shows that Massachusetts continues to see progress among key indicators of coverage, access and health status resulting from the enactment of Chapter 58. Among the study’s findings are:
• Health insurance coverage among nonelderly adults in Massachusetts was at 94.2% in 2010, up from the estimate of 86.6% in 2006 just before the implementation of the act, and well above the 2010 estimated national coverage rate for nonelderly adults of 77.7%;
• The share of Massachusetts adults who were ever uninsured for twelve months or more also dropped. In 2010, 12.1% of Massachusetts adults had a period of uninsurance during the prior year, down from 19.5% in 2006;
• The number of Massachusetts nonelderly adults who self-reported their health status as very good or excellent was 64.9% in 2010, compared to 59.7% in 2006.
The report also highlights several areas for concern, including continued unmet health care needs among the study population which is largely attributable to the state’s high cost of health care.
Back in 2007, Jon Kingsdale, who then directed the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector and was responsible for the implementation of Chapter 58, spoke at a MetroWest Health Foundation sponsored meeting on health reform. He talked about the new law and the challenges that lay ahead, including the rising cost of health care and how important the state’s economy would be to the success of any reform effort. Here we are five years later having just survived one of the worst downturns in the economy. Yet, as this article suggests, we see significant progress in reducing the number of uninsured, and in improving access to care.
While the level of debate about national health reform and our efforts here in Massachusetts will continue for some time, we should view these outcomes as indicators of the progress that can come from well planned and well implemented reforms.