Short-term effects of health-care coverage legislation - Massachusetts, 2008.

On April 12, 2006, Massachusetts enacted legislation to provide nearly universal health-care coverage to state residents. Beginning in mid-2006, various components of the law were launched in approximate 6-month intervals. One key component required all Massachusetts residents to purchase health insurance by July 1, 2007, either through private insurers or Commonwealth Care, a new state-subsidized health insurance program. To analyze the short-term effects of this legislation on health insurance coverage, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) reviewed data from the state's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. An 18-month pre-law period and an 18-month post-law period were identified for comparison; the 12-month transition period from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, during which the law took effect, was not included in the analysis. BRFSS data from the pre-law and post-law periods were compared to evaluate effects on the overall adult population aged 18-64 years and on various subpopulations. This report summarizes the results of those comparisons, which determined that health insurance coverage statewide increased by 5.5%, from 91.3% in the pre-law period to 96.3% in the post-law period, and that coverage increased 14.2% among Hispanics, from 77.9% to 89.0%. Despite the limitations inherent in this analysis, the increases in coverage likely are attributable to the new law. MDPH is using these results to target outreach more precisely to increase health insurance enrollment and health-care access among state residents.