As a state, we have committed to reform our health care system, maximizing access to coverage for people who have none. This effort requires participation at all levels, including people who historically have thought health coverage was either not possible or not necessary. These people, who MUST participate for this initiative to have a chance, are just beginning to pay attention. To, draw them in, we must reach out to educate and assist them where they work and live.

We would like to think of health care reform as a blanket that covers most of us; but so far it’s a quilt with some squares firmly stitched and others barely tacked on. Read more…

The Uncompensated Care Pool (Pool) is a critical part of the health care safety net in Massachusetts, and one of the most misunderstood. Though the health reform law emphasizes – and has achieved – increased coverage, the future shape of the Pool, which helps to finance and share the costs of care for the uninsured and underinsured with limited means, is one of the next big issues in health reform. Read more…

One of the issues whispered about in relation to health reform is the looming shortage of primary care physicians. Who is going to take care of the hundreds of thousands of new patients who will have health insurance? It’s a serious problem and one that we should agree to tackle together. Across the state, too few primary care physicians are signing up for participation in the MassHealth and Commonwealth Care plans because of low reimbursement. Read more…

If health spending continues to rise, Massachusetts’ health reform has no hope of long term success.

Every year, costs rise far faster than inflation, making health insurance less affordable for individuals, and tempting employers to stop offering coverage altogether. For city and town governments in the Commonwealth, health spending for public workers’ benefits rose 85% between 2001 and 2006, eating up most new tax revenues. And state government spending for Medicaid and other state health programs continues to skyrocket. Read more…

The goal of WBUR’s blog regarding the Massachusetts Health Care initiative is to promote an ongoing discourse about the state’s effort to cover the state’s uninsured population. Comments that don’t contribute to that conversation may be edited or deleted at the discretion of WBUR.

Last Monday, May 14th the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum and the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute co-sponsored a forum, “Massachusetts Health Reform: Progress, Prognosis and Possibility” with Governor Patrick, Secretary Bigby, Speaker of the House DiMasi, Senate President Murray, and Jon Kingsdale among others. According to them the progress is great, the prognosis is good and the possibility unlimited. However, the troubling take home message was that the success of Massachusetts Health Reform is all dependent on the Commonwealth having a citizenry of “educated consumers” like Syms, designer names for less. Read more…

Embedded in the Health Care Reform Law is a provision for a health care quality and cost council, charged with establishing “health care quality improvement and cost containment goals…designed to promote high-quality, safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable and patient-centered health care.”

This is a serious responsibility. Indeed, the Boston Globe, in a May 15 editorial, called the council’s work “Item #2 on healthcare agenda.” The council has great promise, but unfortunately has languished to date, a fact noted by the Globe editorial: “Unlike the connector, the council has not made much of an impact.”
Read more…

Yesterday marked yet another step along the path toward our goal of eliminating the number of uninsured residents in Massachusetts. As I stood on the third base dugout at Fenway Park with Governor Patrick and Senate President Murray, community and religious leaders, Red Sox representatives, insurers and providers, we all marveled at the dramatic setting.

But, we also were sobered by the crucial task that we were all there to promote—informing and educating the public, not only about the new requirement to obtain health insurance, effective July 1, but also about new resources that will help them identify and purchase the health plan that is best for them and their health circumstances. Read more…

Here’s a great story about health care reform in action. Two weeks ago, a 63-year-old retiree walked into the offices of the Commonwealth Connector and became the first person in Massachusetts to purchase unsubsidized insurance coverage through the new organization. This man – let’s call him “Mr. P.” — retired early a few years ago, and purchased insurance under COBRA through his former employer. (COBRA is a federal program that gives individuals the option to continue health benefits provided by their employer or other group for limited periods of time under certain circumstances.) Now, his eligibility through COBRA is about to expire, and he will not qualify for Medicare benefits until he turns 65 two years from now. It’s just the kind of gap many people face at one time or another. Read more…

click here to hear Jon Kingsdale outline the marketing campaign to the uninsured that will air during Red Sox games.