Massachusetts Health Reform Research Articles

Reconciling Seemingly Contradictory Results from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment and the Massachusetts Health Reform.

A headline result from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment is that emergency room (ER) utilization increased. A seemingly contradictory result from the Massachusetts health reform is that ER utilization decreased. I reconcile both results by identifying treatment effect heterogeneity within the Oregon experiment and extrapolating it to Massachusetts. Even though Oregon compliers increased their ER utilization, they were adversely selected relative to Oregon never takers, who would have decreased their ER utilization. Massachusetts expanded coverage from a higher level to healthier compliers. Therefore, Massachusetts compliers are comparable to a subset of Oregon never takers, which can reconcile the results.

Did the Massachusetts Health Reform Program increase self-employment?

By providing affordable health insurance untied from employer provision, the Massachusetts Health Reform Program could increase self-employment. Previous studies have estimated both positive and negative effects of the reform on aggregate self-employment using difference-in-differences designs. In this study, I use the synthetic control methodology to confirm the absence of a statistically significant effect of the reform on aggregate self-employment. However, I do detect positive and significant short-run effects of the reform on the probability that individuals become incorporated self-employed. This effect is restricted to individuals 40 years old or younger. I also find that for employees in this age range the reform caused a significant wage reduction. This finding highlights that the higher reform-mandated health insurance coverage was at least in part financed by employees.

Breast Cancer Treatment Following Health Reform: Evidence From Massachusetts.

There are well-documented differences in breast cancer treatment by insurance status. Insurance expansions provide a context to assess the relationship between insurance and patterns of breast cancer care. We examine the association of Massachusetts health reform with use of breast conserving surgery, reconstruction, and adjuvant radiation using data from the Massachusetts Cancer Registry and Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registries for 2001-2013 and a difference-in-differences approach. We observe statistically significant increases in breast conserving surgery among nonelderly women in Massachusetts relative to trends in states and age groups not affected by health reform. We also observe relative increases in reconstruction and adjuvant radiation, though trends in these outcomes were not the same across states prior to reform, limiting our ability to draw conclusions about the relationship between reform and these outcomes. Our results suggest that health reform was associated with some improvements in breast cancer treatment.

Changes in initiation of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer after state health reform

BackgroundSocioeconomic differences in receipt of adjuvant treatment contribute to persistent disparities in breast cancer (BCA) outcomes, including survival. Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) substantially reduces recurrence risk and is recommended by clinical guidelines for nearly all women with hormone receptor-positive non-metastatic BCA. However, AET use among uninsured or underinsured populations has been understudied. The health reform implemented by the US state of Massachusetts in 2006 expanded health insurance coverage and increased the scope of benefits for many with coverage. This study examines changes in the initiation of AET among BCA patients in Massachusetts after the health reform.MethodsWe used Massachusetts Cancer Registry data from 2004 to 2013 for a sample of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive BCA surgical patients aged 20–64 years. We estimated multivariable regression models to assess differential changes in the likelihood initiating AET after Massachusetts health reform by area-level income, comparing women from lower- and higher-income ZIP codes in Massachusetts.ResultsThere was a 5-percentage point (p-value< 0.001) relative increase in the likelihood of initiating AET among BCA patients aged 20–64 years in low-income areas, compared to higher-income areas, after the reform. The increase was more pronounced among younger patients aged 20–49 years (7.1-percentage point increase).ConclusionsThe expansion of health insurance in Massachusetts was associated with a significant relative increase in the likelihood of AET initiation among women in low-income areas compared with those in high-income areas. Our results suggest that expansions of health insurance coverage and improved access to care can increase the number of eligible patients initiating AET and may ameliorate socioeconomic disparities in BCA outcomes.

The Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Colorectal and Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis.

This study examines the expansion of health insurance coverage in Massachusetts under state health reform as a natural experiment to investigate whether expanded insurance coverage reduced the likelihood of advanced stage colorectal cancer (CRC) and breast cancer (BCA) diagnosis. Our study populations include CRC or BCA patients aged 50-64 years observed in the Massachusetts Cancer Registry and Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registries for 2001-2013. We use difference-in-differences regression models to estimate changes in the likelihood of advanced stage diagnosis after Massachusetts health reform, relative to comparison states without expanded coverage (Connecticut, New Jersey, Georgia, Kentucky, and Michigan). We find some suggestive evidence of a decline in the proportion of advanced stage CRC cases. Approximately half of the CRC patients in Massachusetts and control states were diagnosed at advanced stages pre reform; there was a 2 percentage-point increase in this proportion across control states and slight decline in Massachusetts post reform. Adjusted difference-in-difference estimates suggest a 3.4 percentage-point (P=0.005) or 7% decline, relative to Massachusetts baseline, in the likelihood of advanced stage diagnosis after the reform in Massachusetts, though this result is sensitive to years included in the analysis. We did not find a significant effect of reform on BCA stage at diagnosis. The decline in the likelihood of advanced stage CRC diagnosis after Massachusetts health reform may suggest improvements in access to health care and CRC screening. Similar declines were not observed for BCA, perhaps due to established BCA-specific safety-net programs.

Adult-Oriented Health Reform and Children's Insurance and Access to Care: Evidence from Massachusetts Health Reform.

Objective A national debate is underway about the value of key provisions within the adult-oriented Affordable Care Act (ACA)-the individual mandate, expansion of Medicaid eligibility, and essential benefits. How these provisions affect child health insurance and access to care may help us anticipate how children may be affected if the ACA is repealed. We study Massachusetts health reform because it enacted these key provisions statewide in 2006. Methods We used a difference-in-differences (DD) approach to assess the impact of Massachusetts health reform on uninsurance and access to care among children 0-17years in Massachusetts compared to children in other New England states. The National Survey of Children's Health provided the pre-reform year and two post-reform years (1 and 5years post-reform). We analyzed outcomes for children overall and children previously and newly-eligible for Medicaid under Massachusetts health reform, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, non-English language, and having special health care needs. Results Compared to other New England states, Massachusetts's enactment of the individual mandate, Medicaid expansion, and essential benefits was associated with trends at 5years post-reform toward lower uninsurance for children overall (DD = - 1.1, p-for-DD = 0.05), increased access to specialty care (DD = 7.7, p-for-DD = 0.06), but also with a decrease in access to preventive care (DD=-3.4, p-for-DD = 0.004). At 1year post-reform, access to specialty care improved for children newly-Medicaid-eligible (DD = 18.3, p-for-DD = 0.03). Conclusions for Practice Adult-oriented health reforms may have reduced uninsurance and improved access to some types of care for children in Massachusetts. Repealing the ACA may produce modest detriments for children.

Engaging Human Rights Norms to Realize Universal Health Care in Massachusetts, USA

Massachusetts is a national leader in health care, consistently ranking in the top five states in the United States. In 2006, however, only 86% of adults aged 19-64 had health insurance. That year, Governor Romney signed into law An Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care. By 2017, more than 96% of these adults were insured. The 2006 Massachusetts health insurance reform later became the model for the 2010 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. This article examines, through a human rights lens, the 2006 Massachusetts health insurance reform 10 years after its implementation (2007-2017) to shed light on the effectiveness of this approach in achieving universal health coverage. Drawing on documentary and interview data, and applying international human rights norms, we found that (1) the 2006 Massachusetts health reform replaced a crisis of uninsurance with a crisis of underinsurance; (2) state leaders in health reform propose widely diverging solutions to the increasing health care costs, the inability of many residents to afford needed health care, and the persistence of medical bankruptcies; and (3) health care is recognized as a human right in Massachusetts, but understanding of the substance or potential of the right is limited.

Spillover Effects of Massachusetts Health Reform on Mental Health Use by VA and Medicare Dual Enrollees

Older veterans can obtain care from the Veterans Affairs Health System (VA), Medicare or both. We examined whether their use of mental health care was impacted by capacity effects stemming from younger, uninsured veterans' enrolling in VA to satisfy the individual mandate within Massachusetts Health Reform (MHR). Using administrative data, we applied a difference-in-difference approach to compare pre-post changes in mental health use following MHR implementation. Findings indicated MHR was associated with increases in use through Medicare and the probability of dual VA-Medicare use. These results provide support for the possibility that limited capacity led to care seeking outside VA.

Changes in the care of spine surgical patients following health reform in Massachusetts: A review of the literature

ObjectivesThe purpose of this manuscript is to summarize the impact of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform (MHR) on spine surgical care. FindingsThe MHR improved insurance coverage across Massachusetts for the plurality of surgical specialties including spine surgery. However, rates of surgical interventions for spine patients remained unchanged post-reform. Quality measures of healthcare such as length of stay, failure to rescue, mortality, and complication rates were reduced among patients who sustained cervical spine fractures. ConclusionsThe MHR improved insurance coverage for spine care, however the rates of spine surgical intervention remained stable. Further research is needed to explore the impact of the reform on cost savings for spine care and to confirm these quality of life improvements for other spinal conditions.

The impact of Massachusetts health reform on breast cancer surgery.

e18629Background: There are substantial disparities in breast cancer treatment by insurance and socioeconomic status. Women with private insurance are more likely to undergo reconstruction post-mas...

The Association of Health Reform and Infant Health: Evidence from Massachusetts.

To estimate whether the incidence of low birthweight and rates of infant mortality were associated with Massachusetts health reform in the overall population and for subgroups that are at higher risk for poor health outcomes. Individual-level data on birthweight were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics detailed natality files, and aggregated county-level mortality rates were generated from linked birth-death files. We used restricted versions of each file that had intact state and substate geographic identifiers. We employed a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design. We found small and statistically nonsignificant associations between the reform and the incidence of low birthweight and infant mortality rates. Results were consistent across a number of subgroups and were robust to alternative comparison groups and alternative modeling assumptions. We found no evidence that the Massachusetts reform was associated with improvements in individual low birthweights or county-level infant mortality rates, despite increasing health insurance coverage rates for adult women of child-bearing age. Because our mortality analysis was ecological, we are not able to draw conclusions about how an individual-level health insurance intervention for uninsured pregnant women would affect the mortality outcomes of their infants.

Falling through the Coverage Cracks: How Documentation Status Minimizes Immigrants' Access to Health Care.

Recent policy debates have centered on health reform and who should benefit from such policy. Most immigrants are excluded from the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) due to federal restrictions on public benefits for certain immigrants. But, some subnational jurisdictions have extended coverage options to federally ineligible immigrants. Yet, less is known about the effectiveness of such inclusive reforms for providing coverage and care to immigrants in those jurisdictions. This article examines the relationship between coverage and health care access for immigrants under comprehensive health reform in the Boston metropolitan area. The article uses data from interviews conducted with a total of 153 immigrants, health care professionals, and immigrant and health advocacy organization employees under the Massachusetts and ACA health reforms. Findings indicate that respondents across the various stakeholder groups perceive that immigrants' documentation status minimizes their ability to access health care even when they have health coverage. Specifically, respondents expressed that intersecting public policies, concerns that using health services would jeopardize future legalization proceedings, and immigrants' increased likelihood of deportation en route to medical appointments negatively influenced immigrants' health care access. Thus, restrictive federal policies and national-level anti-immigrant sentiment can undermine inclusive subnational policies in socially progressive places.

Massachusetts Health Reform's Effect on Hospitalizations with Substance Use Disorder-Related Diagnoses.

To examine whether Massachusetts (MA) health reform affected substance (alcohol or drug) use disorder (SUD)-related hospitalizations in acute care hospitals. 2004-2010 MA inpatient discharge data. Difference-in-differences analysis to identify pre- to postreform changes in age- and sex-standardized population-based rates of SUD-related medical and surgical hospitalizations, adjusting for secular trends. We identified 373,751 discharges where a SUD-related diagnosis was a primary or secondary discharge diagnosis. Adjusted for age and sex, the rates of drug use-related and alcohol use-related hospitalizations prereform were 7.21 and 8.87 (per 1,000 population), respectively, in high-uninsurance counties, and 8.58 and 9.63, respectively, in low-uninsurance counties. Both SUD-related rates increased after health reform in high- and low-uninsurance counties. Adjusting for secular trends in the high- and low-uninsurance counties, health reform was associated with no change in drug- or alcohol-related hospitalizations. Massachusetts health reform was not associated with any changes in substance use disorder-related hospitalizations. Further research is needed to determine how to reduce substance use disorder-related hospitalizations, beyond expanding insurance coverage.

Association of Insurance Expansion With Surgical Management of Thyroid Cancer

To our knowledge, thyroid cancer incidence is increasing faster than any other cancer type and is currently the fifth most common cancer among women. While this rise is likely multifactorial, there has been scarce consideration of the effect of insurance statuses on the treatment of thyroid cancer. We evaluate the association of insurance expansion with thyroid cancer treatment using the 2006 Massachusetts health reform, which serves as a unique natural experiment. We used the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality State Inpatient Databases to identify patients with government-subsidized or self-pay insurance or private insurance who were admitted to a hospital with thyroid cancer and underwent a thyroidectomy between 2001 and 2011 in Massachusetts (n = 8534) and 3 control states (n = 48 047). Difference-in-differences models were used to evaluate an association between the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform and thyroid cancer treatment, and participants were controlled for age, sex, comorbidities, and secular trends. Change in the thyroidectomy rate for thyroid cancer treatment was the primary outcome evaluated. The Massachusetts cohort consisted of 6443 women (75.5%) and 2091 men (24.5%), of whom 6388 (79.6%) were white, 391 (4.9%) were black, 527 (6.6%) were Hispanic, 424 (5.3%) were Asian/Pacific Islander, 63 (0.8%) were Native American, and 228 (2.8%) were other. The participants from control states included 36 818 women (76.6%) and 11 229 men (23.4%), of whom 30 432 (65.5%) were white, 3818 (8.2%) were black, 6462 (13.9%) were Hispanic, 2591 (5.6%) were Asian/Pacific Islander, 211 (0.5%) were Native American, and 2947 (6.3%) were other. Before the 2006 Massachusetts insurance expansion, patients with government-subsidized or self-pay insurance had lower thyroidectomy rates for thyroid cancer in Massachusetts and the control states compared with patients with private insurance. The Massachusetts insurance expansion was associated with a 26% increased rate of undergoing a thyroidectomy (incident rate ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.04-1.52; P = .02) and a 22% increased rate of neck dissection (incident rate ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.07-1.37; P = .002) for treating cancer compared with control states. The 2006 Massachusetts health reform, which is a model for the Affordable Care Act, was associated with a 26% increased rate of thyroidectomy for treating thyroid cancer. Our study suggests that insurance expansion may be associated with increased access to the surgical management of thyroid cancer. Further studies need to be conducted to evaluate the effect of healthcare expansion at a national level.

Did Massachusetts Health Reform Affect Veterans Affairs Primary Care Use?

Massachusetts Health Reform (MHR), implemented in 2006, introduced new health insurance options that may have prompted some veterans already enrolled in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VA) to reduce their reliance on VA health services. This study examined whether MHR was associated with changes in VA primary care (PC) use. Using VA administrative data, we identified 147,836 veterans residing in Massachusetts and neighboring New England (NE) states from October 2004 to September 2008. We applied difference-in-difference methods to compare pre-post changes in PC use among Massachusetts and other NE veterans. Among veterans not enrolled in Medicare, VA PC use was not significantly different following MHR for Massachusetts veterans relative to other NE veterans. Among VA-Medicare dual enrollees, MHR was associated with an increase of 24.5 PC visits per 1,000 veterans per quarter ( p = .048). Despite new non-VA health options through MHR, VA enrollees continued to rely on VA PC.

Including health insurance in poverty measurement: The impact of Massachusetts health reform on poverty

We develop and implement what we believe is the first conceptually valid health-inclusive poverty measure (HIPM) – a measure that includes health care or insurance in the poverty needs threshold and health insurance benefits in family resources – and we discuss its limitations. Building on the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, we construct a pilot HIPM for the under-65 population under ACA-like health reform in Massachusetts. This pilot demonstrates the practicality, face validity and value of a HIPM. Results suggest that public health insurance benefits and premium subsidies accounted for a substantial, one-third reduction in the health inclusive poverty rate.

Massachusetts Health Reform's Effect on Hospitals' Racial Mix of Patients and on Patients' Use of Safety-net Hospitals.

Because of residential segregation and a lack of health insurance, minorities often receive care in different facilities than whites. Massachusetts (MA) health reform provided insurance to previously uninsured patients, which enabled them to potentially shift inpatient care to nonminority-serving or nonsafety-net hospitals. Examine whether MA health reform affected hospitals' racial mix of patients, and individual patients' use of safety-net hospitals. Difference-in-differences analysis of 2004-2009 inpatient discharge data from MA, compared with New York (NY), and New Jersey (NJ), to identify postreform changes, adjusting for secular changes. (1) Hospital-level analysis (discharges): 345 MA, NY, and NJ hospitals; (2) patient-level analysis (patients): 39,921 patients with ≥2 hospitalizations at a safety-net hospital in the prereform period. Prereform to postreform changes in percentage of discharges that are minority (black and Hispanic) at minority-serving hospitals; adjusted odds of patient movement from safety-net hospitals (prereform) to nonsafety-net hospitals (postreform) by age group and state. Treating NJ as the comparison state, MA reform was associated with an increase of 5.8% (95% CI, 1.4%-10.3%) in the percentage of minority discharges at MA minority-serving hospitals; with NY as the comparison state, the change was 2.1% (95% CI, -0.04% to 4.3%). Patient movement from safety-net to nonsafety-net hospitals was greater in MA than comparison states (difference-in-differences adjusted OR=1.3; 95% CI, 1.0-1.7; P=0.04). Following MA health reform, the safety-net remains an important component of the health care system.

Affordability of and Access to Information About Health Insurance Among Immigrant and Non-immigrant Residents After Massachusetts Health Reform.

Immigrants' perceptions of affordability of insurance and knowledge of insurance after health reform are unknown. We conducted face-to-face surveys with a convenience sample of 1124 patients in three Massachusetts safety net Emergency Departments after the Massachusetts health reform (August 2013-January 2014), comparing immigrants and non-immigrants. Immigrants, as compared to non-immigrants, reported more concern about paying premiums (30 vs. 11%, p=0.0003) and about affording the current ED visit (38 vs. 22%, p<0.0001). Immigrants were also less likely to report having unpaid medical bills (24 vs. 32%, p=0.0079), however this difference was not present among those with any hospitalization in the past year. Insured immigrants were less likely to know copayment amounts (57 vs. 71%, p=0.0018). Immigrants were more likely to report that signing up for insurance would be easier with fewer plans (53 vs. 34%, p=0.0443) and to lack information about insurance in their primary language (31 vs. 1%, p<0.0001) when applying for insurance. Immigrants who sought insurance information via websites or helplines were more likely to find that information useful than non-immigrants (100 vs. 92%, p=0.0339). Immigrants seeking care in safety net emergency departments had mixed experiences with affordability of and knowledge about insurance after Massachusetts health reform, raising concern about potential disparities under the Affordable Care Act that is based on the MA reform.

Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Inpatient Care Use: Was the Safety-Net Experience Different Than in the Non-Safety-Net?

Most inpatient care for the uninsured and other vulnerable subpopulations occurs in safety-net hospitals. As insurance expansion increases the choice of hospitals for the previously uninsured, we examined if Massachusetts health reform was associated with shifts in the volume of inpatient care from safety-net to non-safety-net hospitals overall, or among other vulnerable sociodemographic (racial/ethnic minority, low socioeconomic status, high uninsured rate area) and clinical subpopulations (emergent status, diagnosis). Discharge records for adults discharged from all nonfederal acute care hospitals in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania 2004-2010. Using a difference-in-differences design, we compared pre-/post-reform changes in safety-net and non-safety-net hospital discharge outcomes in Massachusetts among adults 18-64 with corresponding changes in comparisons states with no reform, overall, and by subpopulations. Reform was not associated with changes in inpatient care use at safety-net and non-safety-net hospitals across all discharges or in most subpopulations examined. Demand for inpatient care at safety-net hospitals may not decrease following insurance expansion. Whether this is due to other access barriers or patient preference needs to be explored.

Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Enrollment Length and Health Care Utilization in the Unsubsidized Individual Market.

To evaluate the impact of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform, the model for the Affordable Care Act, on short-term enrollment and utilization in the unsubsidized individual health insurance market. Seven years of administrative and claims data from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. We employed pre-post survival analysis and an interrupted time series design to examine changes in enrollment length, utilization patterns, and use of elective procedures (discretionary inpatient surgeries and infertility treatment) among nonelderly adult enrollees before (n=6,912) and after (n=29,207) the MA reform. The probability of short-term enrollment dropped immediately after the reform. Rates of inpatient encounters (HR=0.83, 95 percent CI: 0.74, 0.93), emergency department encounters (HR=0.85, 95 percent CI: 0.80, 0.91), and discretionary inpatient surgeries (HR=0.66 95 percent CI: 0.45, 0.97) were lower in the postreform period, whereas the rate of ambulatory visits was somewhat higher (HR=1.04, 95 percent CI: 1.00, 1.07). The rate of infertility treatment was higher after the reform (HR=1.61, 95 percent CI: 1.33, 1.97), driven by women in individual (vs. family) plans. The reform was not associated with increased utilization among short-term enrollees. MA health reform was associated with a decrease in short-term enrollment and changes in utilization patterns indicative of reduced adverse selection in the unsubsidized individual market. Adverse selection may be a problem for specific, high-cost treatments.