A study out of the Harvard School of Public Health has linked Massachusetts' 2006 healthcare reform law to a decrease in mortality, especially for conditions that are treatable with timely healthcare interventions.
Harvard researchers compared changes in mortality rates for adults, aged 20 to 64, in Massachusetts counties from 2001 to 2005 (before reform) and 2007 to 2010 (after reform). They estimate the state's healthcare reform law, which provided near-universal healthcare coverage, has prevented roughly 320 deaths per year (one life saved for every 830 who gained insurance, according to the study). The mortality rate decreased by about 3 percent in the four years after the law went into effect.
The researchers found the decline in mortality was concentrated among causes of death most likely to be preventable or treatable with timely healthcare. Benjamin Sommers, MD, PhD, assistant professor of health policy and economics at HSPH and lead author of the study, said his team saw a significant reduction in deaths from infections, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Massachusetts counties with lower median incomes and a higher percentage of uninsured adults before the law was passed — areas likely to have experienced the greatest increase in access to care under reform — gained the largest health benefits. Additionally, the decline in mortality was nearly twice as large for minorities as it was for whites.
"Our findings add to a growing body of evidence showing that health insurance makes a positive difference in people's lives," Dr. Sommers said in a release. "How closely the impact of the Affordable Care Act will mirror the Massachusetts' experience is something we'll have to continue watching closely, but this is certainly encouraging news for the law's potential impact on public health."
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