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Title: Massachusetts' remaining uninsured: Who they are and how to cover them
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2019
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Abstract: In 2006, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney signed a sweeping health reform into law that offered new consumer protections, subsidies for purchasing health insurance, and expanded access to MassHealth (the Massachusetts Medicaid program). The reform also established individual and employer insurance mandates, requiring that all residents of the state obtain health insurance coverage or face a penalty. Finally, this law created the Massachusetts Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, an independent public agency tasked with creating and maintaining a marketplace for state residents to obtain affordable private insurance plans. The successful implementation of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform led to it serving as the framework for the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This holistic attempt to extend health insurance coverage to all Commonwealth residents had a large, immediate impact, halving the number of uninsured working adults in one year (Doonan and Tull 2010). Over the past decade, the percentage of uninsured in Massachusetts has declined from just over four percent in 2008 to under three percent in 2017. Importantly, the rate of decrease in uninsurance has slowed, and the number of uninsured increased from 2016 to 2017. While the uninsurance rate in Massachusetts is the lowest in the United States, the recent stagnation in the uninsurance rate suggests the need for novel policy strategies addressing the remaining uninsured.
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Authors: Nelson, Daniel; Rushakoff, Joshua
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Health
Countries: United States