A Baseline Assessment
of Gaps by Region
This report provides a baseline assessment of gaps in health insurance coverage, access, utilization, and affordability in the period leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic across eight regions in Massachusetts. To advance the goal of health care equity in Massachusetts, it is important to examine how geographic differences impact residents’ health insurance coverage and access to care in the Commonwealth.
To read CHIA’s first report on health care equity, examining disparities in coverage and care by age, race/ethnicity, and family income groups, please click here.
Although Massachusetts has an overall high rate of health insurance coverage among its residents, regional rates in continuous coverage ranged from 89.4% in Southcoast to 95.3% in Western Massachusetts.
The rates of difficulties accessing care at a doctor’s office or clinic ranged from 25.1% in Metro South to 31.2% in Southcoast.
While the majority of Massachusetts residents reported having visited a doctor in the past 12 months, the regional rates varied from 87.7% in Metro Boston to 91.5% in the Northeast region.
The rates of unmet health care needs due to cost ranged from 21.0% in the Cape and Islands to 31.3% in the Southcoast region.
Hover over each region on the map of Massachusetts below to see each region's total population and its percentage of the state total.
For regional variations in health care coverage, access, utilization, and affordability, select one measure for each question and the table will display relevant information. Please click 'reset' to choose different table measures.
CHIA has launched a new series exploring health care equity issues in the Commonwealth, beginning with a baseline assessment of gaps in health insurance coverage, access, utilization, and affordability in the period leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings from this series are derived from the 2015, 2017, and 2019 Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey (MHIS).
CHIA will continue to monitor developments in these domains for different subpopulations as insights from this report series may help inform efforts to better target interventions for a more equitable health care system in the Commonwealth.