In 2006, then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed Massachusetts’ comprehensive health reform designed to provide near-universal health insurance coverage for state residents. Building on a long history of health reform efforts, the state embarked on an ambitious plan to promote shared individual, employer, and government responsibility.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation brief examines Massachusetts’ experience with coverage and access to care over the last six years, including the unprecedented drop in the state’s uninsured rate during the plan’s first year. The state has largely sustained its coverage gains through the deep economic recession that drove up the uninsured rate nationally.

The brief also examines the state’s ongoing efforts to deal with persistent high health-care costs. While not a focus of the state’s original reform plan, efforts to contain health care spending are now at the forefront- with new cost-containment legislation currently pending in the state’s legislature.

Lastly, the brief compares Massachusetts health reform with the national reforms included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) signed into law by President Obama in 2010. Though both plans promote shared responsibility, the state will need to make some changes to comply with the federal law.

Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Six Years Later is available online.

The Kaiser Family Foundation