Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey

The Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey (MHIS) provides information on health care coverage, access and affordability trends in the Commonwealth 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 monitor some aspects of health care coverage, access and affordability, this survey provides the ability to track issues that are specific to Massachusetts.

Key Findings from the 2023 MHIS

The 2023 survey was fielded from April through August 2023 and includes new questions on primary care, telehealth, and behavioral health to capture data on the changing post-pandemic health care landscape.

• Nearly all Massachusetts residents—98.3%—reported having insurance. Uninsured residents in Massachusetts were disproportionately adults aged 19 to 64, males, Hispanic residents, and/or residents with a family income below 300% of the federal poverty level.

• Although 90.9% of residents reported having a primary care provider, 41.2% of residents reported difficulties accessing health care.

• A third (34.3%) of residents reported a telehealth visit in the past 12 months. Among residents who did not have a telehealth visit in the past 12 months, the most frequently reported reasons included a preference for in-person visits (61.7%), telehealth not being right for their health needs (27.8%), and telehealth not being offered by their provider (20.6%).

• Despite near universal health insurance coverage in Massachusetts, nearly half of residents (41.3%) reported that they or their families had an issue affording health care, a burden that is greater for non-Hispanic Black residents (48.7%) and Hispanic residents (58.2%).

• Among the 15.0% of Massachusetts residents who reported paying for their most recent mental health care entirely out-of-pocket, the most frequently reported reasons for doing so were that the provider does not accept any health insurance (36.6%) or their preferred provider did not accept their insurance plan (26.8%).