THE URBAN INSTITUTE On the Road to Universal Coverage: Impacts of Health Reform in Massachusetts at One Year Sharon K. Long Urban Institute

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 2 Massachusetts Health Reform Legislation passed in April 2006 Many parts, including: – Medicaid (MassHealth) expansions – CommCare--new program that provides income- related subsidies for private coverage – Commonwealth Choice-new purchasing arrangement – More restrictions on care under the safety net – Insurance market reforms – Requirements for employers – Individual mandate

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 3 Timeline for Implementation MassHealth expansion in July 2006 CommCare to adults <100% FPL in October 2006 CommCare to adults <300% FPL in January 2007 Commonwealth Choice in May 2007 Individual mandate with small penalty in 2008 (based on coverage December 31, 2007), larger penalty goes into effect in 2009 Minimum creditable coverage enforced in 2009

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 4 Data and Methods Data: Massachusetts Health Reform Survey – Fielded in Fall 2006, Fall 2007 & Fall 2008 (planned) – Telephone interviews with sample of adults 18 to 64 – Sample sizes ~3000 in each year Methods: Estimate impact of health reform as changes over time using a “pre-post” comparison – IMPACT = Fall 2007 – Fall 2006

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 5  Uninsurance for working-age adults reduced by almost half in Massachusetts Impact on insurance coverage

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 6  Drop in uninsurance larger for low-income adults Impact on insurance coverage

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 7  No evidence of crowd-out of ESI for low-income adults Impact on insurance coverage

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 8  Low-income adults more likely to have a regular health care provider and to have had health care visits over the prior year Impact on access to care

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 9  Both low-income and higher-income adults less likely to have any unmet need for health care over the prior year Impact on access to care

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 10  Both low-income and higher-income adults less likely to have unmet need for health care over the prior year because of cost of care Impact on affordability of care

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 11  Drop in out-of-pocket health care costs over the prior year for low-income adults Impact on affordability of care

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 12  Drop in problems paying medical bills and medical debt over the prior year for low-income adults Impact on affordability of care

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 13  Most working-age adults in Massachusetts support health reform Support for health reform

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 14 Study Limitations One set of estimates of the impacts of reform – Will be important to compare to other surveys as data become available Estimates are of early impacts of reform – Another round of the survey will be fielded in Fall 2008 “Pre-post” evaluation design – Additional studies are being conducted using other data sources and methods

THE URBAN INSTITUTE 15 Summary: Early Impacts of Health Reform in Massachusetts Uninsurance among working-age adults reduced by almost half Access to care has improved – More likely to have usual source of care – More likely to have health care visits – Less likely to have unmet need for care Health care is more affordable for individuals – Out-of-pocket health care costs are down – Problems paying medical bills and medical debt are down Support for health reform among Massachusetts residents remains high