Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey

Latest Research Brief

Affordability Issues Persist Despite Near Universal Health Insurance Coverage

Massachusetts has had near universal health insurance coverage since implementing the state’s 2006 health care reform law with additional coverage gains attained under the Affordable Care Act in 2014. The uninsurance rate has remained below 4% following the implementation of key coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act in 2014, with over 90% of residents covered all year. However, Massachusetts has historically had health care costs that exceed national averages, making affordability a challenge for many Massachusetts residents despite their insurance coverage.

This brief, published by CHIA in April 2019, documents the scope of health care affordability issues among Massachusetts residents with health insurance coverage all year (referred to as insured residents)iand the rates of affordability issues for population subgroups.

Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey

The Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey (MHIS) provides information on health insurance coverage, health care access and use, and health care affordability for Massachusetts residents as part of CHIA’s Continuing Study on Insurance Coverage, Underinsurance and Uninsurance.   

The MHIS is a tool used by CHIA, legislators, policymakers, employers, insurers and other stakeholders to track and monitor the experiences of Massachusetts residents in obtaining timely and affordable health care. While national data sources can help to monitor some aspects of health insurance coverage and health care access, this survey provides the ability to track issues that are specific to Massachusetts. The MHIS additionally enables CHIA to track key populations that are of particular interest to the Commonwealth. The 2017 MHIS was fielded between April and July 2017.

CHIA has recently completed the process of conducting the Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey for calendar year 2019 and hopes to release the results during the winter of 2019/2020.

Key Findings (December 2017)

• In 2017, the uninsurance rate in Massachusetts was 3.7 percent, compared to an 8.8 percent uninsurance rate for the rest of the nation based on early estimates.
  
  

• Almost one in ten Massachusetts residents were underinsured in 2017.
  
  

• Seventy-eight percent of people incurred all medical debt while they and their family had health insurance.