Massachusetts Health Reform Fails the Disadvantaged, Study Finds

From: Science Daily

Massachusetts Health Reform Fails the Disadvantaged, Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100909074331.htm


A new study looking at the effects of the 2006 Massachusetts Health Reform on access to care, health status and ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare, shows that the legislation has led to improvements in insurance coverage as well as a decline in financial barriers to care. However, to date, it has not increased people's access to a personal physician or improved their self-rated health. Neither has it reduced healthcare inequalities between ethnic or income groups.

The research by Jane Zhu from Harvard Medical School and team suggests that health reform is necessary but not sufficient to achieve equity in healthcare. The study is published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.

In 2006, Massachusetts passed comprehensive health reform legislation to expand health coverage to all its residents and has achieved near-universal coverage. However, less is known about the effects of the reform on its residents' access to care or health status, or how this legislation has impacted ethnic and socioeconomic disparities. . . . .