Massachusetts State Health Survey

January 5, 2009. Sharon Long and her colleagues at the Urban Institute released the latest findings from the 2008 Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey (MHIS). There continues to be an increase in health insurance coverage since the Massachusetts health reform initiative in 2006, which included an individual mandate and the merger of the individual and small group markets. The newest estimates show that only 2.6% of the Massachusetts population and only 1.2% of children in the state are uninsured. Download the full report.

Of key interest to SHADAC was the continued use of a state survey to track the impact of health reform. As you know, data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) provide good estimates of health insurance coverage that are comparable across states. However, the larger sample size and more targeted survey questions available in state-level surveys provide more timely and relevant information to meet state-specific policy and research needs.

In contrast to the MHIS, the latest CPS estimates for Massachusetts show 7.9% of the population as uninsured (using a two-year average 2006-2007) representing a significant decrease of 2.9% from the previous two-year period (2004-2005). SHADAC researchers have found that the CPS state estimates are on average 22% higher than state survey estimates of the uninsured. See SHADAC's Issue Brief on this topic for more detail.

Finally, we are pleased that the 2008 MHIS was developed using the framework of the SHADAC Coordinated State Coverage Survey (CSCS). This state household survey was developed by Kathleen Call and her colleagues at the University of Minnesota and is available for adaption to meeting state specific information needs and is free of charge. To date, 20 states have used the CSCS as the foundation for their state health insurance survey. See our CSCS page for more information.