Taxpayer Group: Health Reform Hasn't Busted Mass. Budget
While concerns about the affordability of health care in Massachusetts remain, increased state spending related to the 2006 reform law has stayed within projections, representing only 1.4 percent of the state's $32 billion budget, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF).
And though lawmakers have declined to mandate that businesses provide health insurance for their employers, 77 percent of Massachusetts employers with three or more workers offered insurance in 2010, up from 70 percent in 2005. That compares to a national average of 69 percent.
Businesses with 11 or more workers that do not offer insurance are charged an assessment of $295 per employee.
Premium increases sought by insurers have also slowed, the MTF report said. In the latest round of premium proposals for the small business market, increases averaged 2 percent to 3 percent, down from 15 percent to 20 percent two years ago. Nationally, premiums are averaging increases of 5.8 percent or more.
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