Number of Uninsured in Massachusetts Increases for First Time Since 1995, Study Finds

The number of uninsured Massachusetts residents has increased for the first time since 1995, according to a preliminary report released Aug. 29, the Boston Globe reports. For the biannual study, University of Massachusetts researchers have surveyed 2,250 state households and plan to contact 450 more by the end of September. The new data, released by the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, show that 397,000 residents, 6.4% of the state population, are uninsured, up 32,000 people since 2000. Harry Lohr, a spokesperson for the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, said officials had "anticipated that [the increase] would be much worse." The number of uninsured in Massachusetts is expected to rise next April, when 50,000 people will lose their Medicaid coverage, the Globe reports (Abel, Boston Globe, 8/30). The budget plan for the current fiscal year reduces funding for the state's Medicaid program by $54 million and cuts coverage for 50,000 enrollees in MassHealth Basic, which provides health insurance to long-term unemployed individuals earning about $3,500 per year (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/23). An increase in unemployment, a "sputtering" economy and rising health care costs are contributing to the growing numbers of the uninsured in the state and across the nation, the Globe reports. Rob Restuccia, executive director of the advocacy group Health Care for All, said, "This is like the calm before the storm. We're at a crucial turning point. Without state action, there's going to be a significant rise in the uninsured and the free care system could implode." State Sen. Mark Montigny (D) said, "Until the public demands that its leaders make health care a life-saving service and not a for-profit industry, we're going to keep seeing this trend. This move to throw 50,000 people off Medicaid must be reversed." He added, "People ought to be outraged" (Boston Globe, 8/30).