What Analysts Say About The Mass. Health Law That's Turning 10

WBUR first started CommonHealth to track a law that had an ambitious goal: health coverage for virtually every Massachusetts resident. It's been 10 years since that reform effort. To mark the anniversary, we asked a number of health experts to offer their takes on the law. A handful of the commentaries are excerpted below, and links to all the analyses are at the bottom of this post.

Jonathan Gruber, MIT economist (full post here): 

Growth in insurance coverage has been shown repeatedly to lead to improved health outcomes in Massachusetts.

John McDonough, former director, Health Care for All (full post):

Massachusetts carved the path. Still, the work of advancing affordable and quality coverage to all Americans is unfinished.

Nancy Turnbull, associate dean, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (full post):

You’ve made life better, healthier and more financially secure for hundreds of thousands of people. So celebrate your successes.

But get ready for the challenges ahead: Being a tween is a wild ride!

Jon Hurst, president, Retailers Association of Massachusetts (full post):

If we are to continue to mandate insurance coverage, then it’s time for a dialogue about real reforms which will create equal opportunities for all consumers, particularly those which have been hurt the most: small businesses and their employees.

Amy Lischko, former Romney administration director of health care policy (full post):

I am mostly pleased with the progress Massachusetts has made on the access front, albeit concerned about the growing number of people relying on Medicaid for health care coverage.

JudyAnn Bigby, former state health and human services secretary (full post): 

There are still challenges ahead. Critical access issues continue to pose an obstacle for Massachusetts residents. In the context of an archaic substance abuse treatment system, addiction treatment services did not increase after reform in spite of the mandate to cover these services.

And A Number Of More Commentaries:

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