Collection details

In April 2006, Massachusetts enacted a health care reform bill that sought to move the state to (almost) universal coverage through a combination of Medicaid expansions, subsidized private health insurance coverage, and insurance reforms. The Massachusetts Health Reform Surveys (MHRS) are surveys of non-elderly adults that were conducted as part of an evaluation of the impacts of the state's reform effort. The MHRS was first conducted in the Fall of 2006, just prior to the health reform law implementation, and has been fielded almost every fall of each subsequent year. In addition to funding from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, support for selected years has been provided by the Commonwealth Fund (2006-2008) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2006-2008, 2012-2013). The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also funded the curation of the MHRS data for every year. The surveys in the MHRS series include questions on insurance status, respondent's access to and use of health care; out-of-pocket health care costs and medical debt; insurance premiums and covered services (for those with insurance); and health and disability status. Respondents were also asked about their impressions of Massachusetts's health reform law and the individual mandate.