In April 2006, Massachusetts enacted a landmark health reform law, known as “Chapter 58,” to improve access to affordable health insurance for nearly all residents. The Foundation served as a catalyst for the law by funding the "Roadmap to Coverage" initiative. Working with The Urban Institute, the Foundation published comprehensive, objective research to inform the debate about how to best provide health coverage for the uninsured and by convening key stakeholders around these issues. The Foundation continues to monitor the implementation of health reform through participant and provider surveys, reporting, and policy analysis.

Related Publications

• 2009 Year-End Report for Connecting Consumers with Care Report
  July 19, 2010
  This report summarizes the work of our 22 grantees in the Connecting Consumers with Care grant area in 2009. Information was obtained from monthly reports submitted to the Foundation that evaluated our grantees' impact in the field of outreach and enrollment.
• Re-Forming Reform: What the PPACA Means for Massachusetts
  June 21, 2010
  Presentation made by Robert Seifert of the Center for Health Law and Economics at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation's event "A Celebration of Health Care Reform: From Massachusetts to the Nation" on June 21, 2010.
• Re-Forming Reform: What the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Means for Massachusetts
  June 21, 2010
  According to this new report, implementation of national health reform will direct billions of new federal dollars into the Massachusetts health care system, expand public coverage to reach more of the state's residents, and has the potential to help the state reach its cost containment and quality of care goals. Written by the Center for Health Law and Economics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, this report is the most comprehensive assessment to date of how the national reform law intersects with the Commonwealth's own health reforms.
• Health Reform in Massachusetts: An Update as of Fall 2009 Summary of Key Findings
  June 08, 2010
  This comprehensive chartbook describes key findings from the latest Urban Institute report analyzing the impact of the Massachusetts health reform. Data is based on the fall 2009 Massachusetts Heath Reform Survey.
• Health Reform in Massachusetts: An Update as of Fall 2009
  June 08, 2010
  This report is the latest in a series by the Urban Institute analyzing the impact of the Massachusetts health reform law. Findings show that despite the state's economic recession Massachusetts has maintained record low levels of uninsured and access to needed health care has improved. Additionally, disparities in coverage and care have been eliminated or narrowed. Solid public support for the health reform law continues. This report is based on the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey (MHRS), which has tracked the impact of the law annually since 2006.
• Sustaining Health Reform in a Recession: An Update On Massachusetts As Of Fall 2009
  June 08, 2010
  This article by Sharon K. Long and Karen Stockley is based on the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey which has tracked the impact of Massachusetts’ health reform since its inception in 2006. The latest findings are particularly relevant with the passage of national health reform legislation.
• The Impacts of Health Reform for Women in Massachusetts
  June 02, 2010
  This policy brief based on data from the 2009 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey shows that women have achieved significant gains in insurance coverage and in access and use of health care since health reform was implemented in Massachusetts. The gains were particularly strong for subgroups of women who had lower levels of coverage and poorer access prior to reform, including lower-income women, women of minority race/ethnicity, and women without dependent children.
• A Convening of Grantees on the Commonwealth Care Bridge Program
  February 09, 2010
  In August, 2009, legal immigrants who have been in the United State for fewer than five years lost their eligibility for health insurance coverage under Commonwealth Care. They now receive coverage under the Bridge Program. In December, the BCBSMA Foundation brought together grantees, government officials, advocates, and health insurers for an informal discussion about how and why these changes were made, and how to improve coverage for legal immigrants.
• 2008 Year-End Report of Connecting Consumers with Care Grantees
  December 09, 2009
  This report summarizes the work of the 2008 grantees in the Connecting Consumers with Care grant program area.
• National Health Care Reform And Its Impact on Massachusetts
  November 03, 2009
  This analysis, conducted by the University of Massachusetts Center for Health Law and Economics, outlines the potential impact a national health reform bill may have on Massachusetts, including key areas that bear further monitoring.
• Testimony On Health Care Affordability For the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing By The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
  June 24, 2009
  The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation was invited by the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing to offer testimony on the affordability of health care. Foundation Director of Policy and Research Shanna Shulman, Ph.D. offered the following testimony.
• Access To Health Care In Massachusetts: The Landscape In 2009. Presentation by John Snow, Inc. at 2009 Summit on Access.
  May 28, 2009
  Presentation made by John Snow, Inc. at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation's annual Summit on Access May 28, 2009. The presentation summarizes a year of investigation into barriers to health care access that consisted of a literature review, focus groups, interviews with health access experts, and a survey of the newly-insured. This research is part of the Foundation's Care Beyond Coverage policy initiative.
• An Update on Health Reform In Massachusetts As Of Fall 2008: Access To and Affordability of Health Care. Presentation by Sharon K. Long, Ph.D. at the 2009 Summit on Access.
  May 28, 2009
  Presentation made by Sharon Long of The Urban Institute at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation's annual Summit on Access May 28, 2009. The presentation summarizes the results of the third annual Massachusetts Health Reform Survey.
• Shared Responsibility, Government, Business, and Individuals: Who Pays What for Health Reform?
  April 14, 2009
  This report is the first assessment of how spending to insure hundreds of thousands of additional people in the Commonwealth is being shared. It finds that the overall distribution of spending on health insurance by employers, individuals, and government remained essentially the same between 2005, one year before passage of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law, and 2007, one year into the law’s implementation.
• 1982-2008 Funding Makes a Difference
  January 15, 2009
  This paper traces the complex history of health care reform efforts in Massachusetts over 25 years, focusing on the significant role that philanthropy played. It pays particular attention to the interaction among policymakers, grant makers, and consumer advocates over time as the political landscape evolved and new strategies and alliances emerged.