Massachusetts' Health Reform Requiring Health
Insurance for Most Citizens is Highly Popular
79% want to continue health reform legislation making
this the only state were nearly all are insured; poll did find concerns
about the future
Sept. 28, 2009 - Massachusetts is currently facing
the impact of a severe recession, state budgetary and fiscal problems,
and continued rising health care costs. Despite this difficult
environment, a new poll finds that 79% want the state's health reform
legislation, making it the only state where nearly all of the
population has health insurance, to continue.
CBO says it will not add to federal deficit: to be fully
paid for mostly through quality, efficiency, prevention and adjustments in
federal health programs
The poll by the Harvard School of Public Health and
The Boston Globe finds 57% favoring continuing it with some
changes and 22% continuing it as is. Only 11% of state residents favored
repealing the health reform law.
The researchers report that 59% of Massachusetts
residents, who are aware of the state's health reform legislation, which
was enacted in 2006, support it. A little more than one in four oppose
it (28%), and 13% are not sure.
The level of public support for the law has
declined somewhat in the last year, from 69% saying they support the law
in 2008 to 59% in the current poll. The current number is similar to the
61% found in 2006.
Support for the law varied by party affiliation,
with 76% of Democrats, 56% of Independents, and just 35% of Republicans
saying they support the legislation. The poll was conducted September
14-16, 2009.
There has been no change in the last year in those
supporting repeal of the legislation--12% in 2008 versus 11% in 2009.
"The implication of this poll for the national
debate is that it is possible to get continuing public support for a
program that leads to nearly everyone in the population having health
insurance coverage," said Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy
and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Impact of the law
The principal intent of the Massachusetts
legislation was to provide health coverage for nearly all of the state's
residents and, as a result of the widely discussed measure,
Massachusetts is the only state where nearly all of the population has
health insurance coverage. The poll found that 64% thought the health
reform law was successful in reducing the number of uninsured in the
state, 22% thought it was not successful, and 14% were unsure.
The poll also asked respondents about the impact of
the health reform law on their own health care in terms of quality,
costs, and their ability to pay medical bills.
On all these measures, about half reported that the
law did not have much of an impact on them. Of those who reported an
impact, more thought it helped than thought it hurt their quality of
care (23% versus 14%), and their ability to pay their medical bills (24%
versus 14%). However, on the cost of their own care, the results were
not statistically different (24% saying hurt versus 19% helped).
Views about the future
Though the legislation is currently popular, the
poll found concerns about the future. The Massachusetts public is
divided on whether the state can afford to continue with this law as it
currently stands. Forty-three percent said it could not, 40% said it
could, and 16% were unsure. Nearly six out of ten (57%)
wanted some changes in the law. Those who said this were asked to state
in their own words what was the most important change that needed to be
made. The responses fell into three categories: lower future costs
(30%), increase the coverage and benefits of the
current program (23%), and limit the eligibility
for subsidies in the future (11%).
"The clear message for state government leaders is
that the public wants some action to address the long-term affordability
of this program," said Blendon.
The poll also asked about an issue of recent
controversy in the state. To help balance the state budget, the
Massachusetts government cut 70% of the funding for subsidized health
insurance for certain low-income legal immigrants. Respondents were
asked their views about this policy in the future. Forty-three percent
said the funding for health insurance coverage for low-income legal
immigrants should be fully restored, 28% thought the reduced funding
should be left as is, and 19% thought the funding should be entirely
eliminated.
Methodology
The Massachusetts Health Reform Poll was conducted
by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe.
Representatives of the two organizations worked closely to develop the
survey questionnaire and analyze the results of the poll. The Boston
Globe and the Harvard School of Public Health are publishing independent
summaries of the poll's findings, and each organization bears sole
responsibility for the work that appears under its name. The Harvard
School of Public Health and The Boston Globe paid for the survey and
related expenses.
The project team was lead by Robert J. Blendon, a
professor who holds joint appointments in the Harvard School of Public
Health and the Harvard Kennedy School, and Gideon Gil, Health and
Science editor of The Boston Globe. The Harvard research team also
included Gillian SteelFisher, John Benson and Kathleen Weldon.
Interviews were conducted with 506 randomly
selected Massachusetts state residents, age 18 and older, via telephone
by Social Science Research Solutions of Media, Pennsylvania. The
interviewing period was September 14-16, 2009. The data were weighted to
accurately reflect the demographics of the state's adult population as
described by the U.S. Census.
When interpreting these findings, one should
recognize that all surveys are subject to sampling error. Results may
differ from what would be obtained if the whole Massachusetts adult
population had been interviewed. The size of this error varies with the
number of persons surveyed and the magnitude of difference in responses
to each question. The sampling error for surveys of 506 respondents is
±5.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Background Information
Harvard School of Public Health (
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu ) is dedicated to advancing the public's
health through learning, discovery, and communication. More than 400
faculty members are engaged in teaching and training the 1,000-plus
student body in a broad spectrum of disciplines crucial to the health
and well being of individuals and populations around the world. Programs
and projects range from the molecular biology of AIDS vaccines to the
epidemiology of cancer; from risk analysis to violence prevention; from
maternal and children's health to quality of care measurement; from
health care management to international health and human rights. For
more information on the school visit:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Sept. 28, 2009 - Massachusetts is currently facing
the impact of a severe recession, state budgetary and fiscal problems,
and continued rising health care costs. Despite this difficult
environment, a new poll finds that 79% want the state's health reform
legislation, making it the only state where nearly all of the
population has health insurance, to continue.
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