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 2015 MHIS was fielded between May and August 2015.

Key Findings:

• In 2015, the uninsurance rate in Massachusetts was 3.6 percent, compared to a 9.2 percent uninsurance rate for the rest of the nation.
  
  
• Altogether 89.0 percent of respondents reported having a usual source of care and 88.6 percent reported a visit to a general doctor or other non-physician practitioner (e.g., physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner) over the past 12 months.
  
  
• Emergency department use and difficulties getting an appointment as soon as one was needed were fairly common, especially for Hispanics, those with lower incomes, and those in fair or poor health with an activity limitation.
  
  

• Health care costs were a common barrier to obtaining health care for respondents in 2015 and often placed financial stress on families.