Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Associated With Greater Need for Safety Net Hospitals

Patient demand for safety-net providers, such as community health centers and public hospitals, has increased in Massachusetts, even though the number of patients with health insurance also increased following the state's passage of healthcare reform, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine study.

Using data from Massachusetts safety net facilities and patients, the researchers sought to assess changes in the demand for and use of outpatient and inpatient care since the state's implementation of healthcare reform.

Results from their research showed the total number of patients served by community health centers increased 31 percent from 2005-2009. During the same period, the number of patients without insurance in the community health centers caseload decreased from 35.5 percent to 19.9 percent. Staff members at community health centers told researchers that newly insured patients returned because they like the care received at these sites and the relationships they had developed with center healthcare professionals.

The researchers also analyzed responses from patients of safety-net facilities who were nonelderly adults with incomes below 300 percent of the poverty line. Roughly two-thirds had health coverage through a public program. Most reported that they used safety-net facilities because these services were convenient and affordable, with one-quarter reporting difficulty in obtaining care elsewhere.

Read the news release about Massachusetts healthcare reform.

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