The 2006 Massachusetts health care reform

Abstract

The 2006 Massachusetts Health Care Reform was the first of its kind in the United States to require insurance carriage through specific mandates. Although the reform is still relatively new and trends are still being analyzed in terms of impact of the Reform, Massachusetts nevertheless has the highest rate of insured citizens out of any state. This chapter details the history and structure of the main tenants of Mass health-care reform - including the individual mandate, the Health Safety Net Fund, Commonwealth Care and Commonwealth Choice plans, and changes to MassHeath - all overseen by the Massachusetts Health Connector. Reform in Massachusetts is a useful lens through which to examine larger changes being made as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). A well-established understanding of the changes that occurred in the 2006 Reform serves as a platform for understanding wide-sweeping health-care reform today and the challenges that such dramatic change presents.