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Michael Chin, MD, is co-author of a report finding that male, single, young, and low-income individuals in Massachusetts are more likely than others to be persistently uninsured. |
Although Massachusetts has the lowest rate of uninsured residents in the nation, those who are male, single, young and low-income are more likely than others to be persistently without health insurance for two consecutive years. This was one of the findings of a report co-authored by researchers from UMass Medical School and the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority and funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. The findings suggest that a variety of approaches are needed to reduce the number of residents who remain without health insurance.
The report was co-authored by Michael Chin, MD, assistant professor of family medicine & community health and a health policy associate in the Research and Evaluation Unit of Commonwealth Medicine; and Audrey Gasteier, MS, director of policy and outreach at the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority.
Researchers used state tax filings for 2011 and 2012 to quantify and understand why some residents were persistently uninsured for both of these years. State officials have reported that between 2008 and 2012, more than 140,000 tax filers each year have been without full-year health insurance, even though two-thirds of this population had income levels low enough that most should have been eligible for free or low-cost health insurance.
The authors said the results of the analysis will help inform health care providers, community organizations, advocates and policymakers who want to reach those who are uninsured or at risk of becoming uninsured.
Key findings of the study include:
- The large majority (97 percent) of adults who had health insurance for the full year in 2011 continued to be insured for the full year in 2012.
- About 180,000 adults were uninsured for all of 2011, and among these individuals 60,000 were persistently uninsured for the following year.
- Tax filers who were uninsured for all or part of 2011 were more likely than those who were insured for the full year insured to be uninsured in the following year.
- The rate of individuals who were uninsured for the full-year varied among counties in the state, with Nantucket, Dukes, Barnstable and Suffolk counties having the highest rates in 2011. Counties with the highest rates of individuals insured for the full-year also had the highest rates of individual without insurance, ranging from 1 to 5 percent.
