The state of Massachusetts requires all its residents to obtain mandatory health insurance after a law was passed in 2007 to facilitate the provision of affordable healthcare to all inhabitants of the state. Most of those who welcome the law laud it for its free medical services to all those who fall below the poverty line. It also cuts the costs of service provision through the merging of group and individual markets thereby facilitating the health maintenance organizations to link health savings accounts to the various plans. However, one of the challenges that became immediately apparent when the program was rolled out was the issue of regulating the increase of premiums. The healthcare costs are, therefore, more difficult to control. Additionally, their supply of primary care health personnel has also inadvertently become a problem, and one in five adults report to have difficulties in finding a doctor when they need medical attention.
In response to these qualms, the state-wide reforms would require a replacement of “the phase-out fee-for-service reimbursement” with “an accountable-care approach that incorporated a global payment model combining elements of risk-adjusted capitation, pay-for-performance, evidence-based guidelines, and medical-home-style care coordination” (Guadagnino, 2012). The major problem with the current system is that though it eliminates the impediments of financial healthcare for certain portions of the population, it places stress on other sectors as well. The cost of healthcare and the ratio of medical personnel to patients, for example, is currently strained but could benefit from the incentivization of healthcare providers to cut off the inefficiencies in the system. This could be done by introducing performance measures. The model of subsidizing healthcare has generally improved the state’s approach to health and wellness but could certainly use a few tweaks.
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References
Guadagnino, C. (2012). Massachusetts healthcare law highlights implications for national healthcare reform. Retrieved from https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/125431/massachusetts-healthcare-law-highlights-implications-national-healthcare
