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On April 12, 2006, Massachusetts’ landmark law to cover
the uninsured went into effect. Over the next few years, more
than 90 percent of the half million men, women and children
who are currently uninsured will have insurance of some kind:
publicly funded, subsidized, and unsubsidized more affordable
private insurance:
• About 85,000 residents will be enrolled into MassHealth
programs over the next three years (as of April 30, 2007,
61,000 people had been enrolled)
• 60,000 individuals with incomes less than the federal
poverty level ($10,212 for an individual, $20,652 for a
family of four) will receive fully subsidized coverage by
the state (as of June 1, 59,700 people had signed up for
this coverage)
• 100,000 low income residents with family incomes
up to three times the federal poverty level will receive
sliding-scale premium assistance with no deductibles (as
of June 1, 19,900 people had enrolled)
• The new Commonwealth Care Health Insurance Connector
will provide access to new affordable health insurance products
for approximately 200,000 middle and higher-income individuals
who are currently uninsured (coverage in this program begins
July 1, 2007)
 
Over the past five years, the number of patients without
health insurance served at Partners hospitals has nearly doubled
from 21,000 in FY2002 to more than 37,000 in FY2006. In collaboration
with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Partners worked
closely with health care coverage advocates, other hospitals,
health centers, business association leaders, and our own
physicians, nurses, and other caregivers, to support then
Governor Romney’s and Massachusetts Legislature’s
efforts to create this health reform plan that will expand
coverage for the uninsured, help to control costs, improve
quality, and ensure that publicly funded health care costs
are adequately reimbursed.
As the provisions of health care reform are implemented,
Partners is participating in and anticipating the impact of
each new component on patient access and provider operations.
In addition to communicating these changes to providers across
the Partners system, Partners staff are collaborating with
hospital leadership to ensure a coordinated outreach strategy
that will inform patients about new coverage options. Partners
will also closely monitor the long term effects of health
care reform changes, including identifying areas and finding
solutions for patients who might continue to have no coverage
options, for example, undocumented immigrants.
www.massachusettshealthreform.org
© Copyright 2007 Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
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