BOSTON—Massachusetts remains the only U.S. state to achieve near-universal health insurance coverage, according to two new reports.
As of June, 97.3% of state residents had coverage compared with 97.4% in August 2008. In 2008, the last year for which data is available, Hawaii had the second-highest insured rate of 92.2%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The findings are a report prepared by the Massachusetts Health Connector, the state agency responsible for implementing key provisions of Massachusetts’ pioneering law. The report, Implementation of Health Care that was sent last week to the Massachusetts Legislature, draws in part from a survey of more than 4,000 Massachusetts residents conducted between March and June by the Urban Institute, a Washington-based research organization.
Achieving and maintaining near-universal coverage “in the midst of a severe economic recession is truly a landmark achievement,” Jon Kingsdale, the executive director of the Health Connector, said in a statement. “While continuing to evolve, Massachusetts health care reform, launched in 2006, should no longer be considered an experiment. It should be considered an achievement.”
The Urban Institute report found that, of those with health insurance coverage, 69% received coverage from employers; 16% received coverage from Medicare; and 15% were insured through public plans, such as Commonwealth Care, the Massachusetts program that subsidizes health premiums for the lower-income uninsured.
Of 406,000 state residents who found health insurance coverage from June 2006 through March 2009, 165,000, or 41%, obtained coverage through Commonwealth Care; 99,000, or just over 24%, received coverage through the state’s Medicaid program; 96,000, or just under 24%, obtained coverage through employer plans, and 46,000, or 11%, received coverage in the individual market, according to the Connector report.
Several provisions in Massachusetts’ law have been critical in boosting coverage, experts say, including state premium subsidies, imposing financial penalties of more than $1,000 a year on individuals not enrolled in a health care plan and an annual assessment of $295 per employee on employers—except for very small firms—that do not offer coverage.
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