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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Emily Sherwood, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, Massachusetts Legislature, Boston, MA 02130, (617) 722-2430, Emily.sherwood@state.ma.us

As has been widely reported, Massachusetts has passed legislation to provide virtually universal health care access to residents within three years. The health care access law, Chapter 58, redeploys safety net funds to subsidize comprehensive health insurance for residents with incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level; modestly expands Medicaid coverage; requires non-offering employers to pay a $295 per employee assessment to defray the state's cost of providing free care to the uninsured; creates a statewide clearinghouse, the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector, to “connect” individuals and small business to high-value insurance products; merges the state's small- and non-group health insurance markets; and, requires all adults to have health insurance by July 1, 2007 or face tax penalties. These policy and funding elements have varying applicability to other states. However, the process of developing and passing Chapter 58 provides an instructive example of the interaction of critical health care constituencies in the development of health care policy. These constituencies include large integrated health care systems, community hospitals, safety net providers, professional guilds, insurers, managed care organizations, governmental payers, large and small employers, labor unions, state and federal regulators and health care consumers.

Learning Objectives:

• not available.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No