Five Years Later, Health Care Reform Gets Good Marks
Massachusetts health care reform has given residents better access to care and reduced the use of emergency rooms, according to a new report released by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.
The report was written by researchers from the Urban Institute and the University of Minnesota, using survey data from the foundation.
Foundation President Sarah Iselin said in a statement that the report shows health care reform's success in the face of bad economic conditions but also points to the continuing need for action to curb increases in the cost of care.
The report says that 94.2 percent of non-elderly adults in the state had health insurance in the fall of 2010, compared with the national rate of 78.5 percent. Non-elderly adults are also more likely to report getting preventative and dental care, and more likely to say their health is "very good or excellent" than they were before the 2006 reform.
Use of emergency rooms, which had been touted as a likely way the reform would save money, declined for the first time in 2010.
Nevertheless, affordability remains the big question in the state's health system. The report found that more than a quarter of adults said health care spending in 2010 had caused financial problems, forcing them to cut back on health care or other spending, or to reduce savings.
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