the state legislators agreed
Although Romney and the state legislators agreed on most of the components of the bill, agreeing on how this healthcare reform would be financed was a major issue as it was clear that financing the reform would result in an increase in healthcare cost. However, following a compromise that was reached, the state legislators agreed that the reform would be financed by individuals, employers and the government. First, the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform is funded by the existing $320 million obtained in hospital assessments and covered levies (Van der Wees et al., 2013). Second, the Massachusetts state legislators agreed that the health reform would also be financed through by federal safety-net payments of $610 million as well as federal matching payments on the MassHealth expansion. Additionally, part of the money to be used in financing the health care reform is to come from rate increases projected at $299 million. Further, $295 fair assessment for employers per employee and the Free Rider Surcharge also generates revenue used to finance the ambitious health care reform in Massachusetts (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012).
Impacts
The impacts of this Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Act have been so profound. The first major achievement of this healthcare reform is that it has increased access to affordable coverage to residents of Massachusetts. Because the law requires all residents of Massachusetts to have a health insurance or pay a fine, the law had seen more that 99% of the residents of the state now get health insurance coverage up from 90% before this healthcare reform was introduced. According to Rapoza (2012), prior to 2006, more than 24% of low-income residents of Massachusetts had no health insurance. However, by 2012, only 8% of low-income adults in the state were still without healthcare coverage. Overall, about 650,000 Massachusetts residents who lacked health insurance are now covered.
Another significant achievement of the Massachusetts health insurance is that it has increased insurance status of higher income persons for the self-employed who did not qualify for MassHealth. According to Urban Institute, the population of higher income earners who were without health insurance before 2006 has dropped from 5% then to below 1% three years after the reform (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012).
The only notable shortcoming of this healthcare reform is the cost burden associated with its implementation. The health cost in the state has risen to a historic high following the introduction of this healthcare reform was introduced. By 2007, just one year after the reform, Massachusetts healthcare expenditure accounted for about 15.2% of its GDP, which is higher than the nation’s average of 13.7% as a whole (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012).
References
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2012). Massachusetts health care reform: Six years later. Retrieved from https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/8311.pdf
Rapoza, K. (2012, Jan. 20). If ObamaCare is so bad, how does RomneyCare survive? Forbes p. 1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/01/20/romney-care-massachusetts-healthcare-reform/#3d6701195b00
Van der Wees, P. J., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Ayanian, J. Z. (2013). Improvements in health status after Massachusetts health care reform. The Milbank Quarterly, 91(4), 663–689.
