The Effects Of Universal Health Insurance Mandate On The...

This paper reviews the effects of the universal health insurance mandate in the Massachusetts labor market. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) model, this study focuses on the co-evolution of insurance coverage and labor markets. One found that under the recent legislation, workers from firms of varying sizes demonstrate different patterns with regards to obtaining insurance coverage. While employer-sponsored health insurance is designed to be the primary source of coverage for Massachusetts residents under reform, two legal loopholes exist in the employer mandate. For mid-sized organizations, the probability of part-time employees working without employer provided insurance has increased. 1. Introduction Since the Patient†¦show more content†¦Similar to Massachusetts insurance reform, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) also features insurance exchanges, individual and employer mandates, and expanded Medicaid coverage. Due to the similarity between the Massachusetts health reform and the Affordable Care Act, much can be learned from Massachusetts s experience on implementing health insurance coverage expansions and employer-provided universal insurance coverage law. In other words, this case offers insight into how some businesses and their employees might react to federal law requirements. Several studies sought to investigate the effect of the universal health reform and its impact on the labor market outcomes, such as the unemployment rate and average wage (Buchmueller, 2013; Kolstad, 2012). However, they failed to take into account the potential legal loopholes in part-time status, employer-provided coverage and Medicaid, and the impact of companies’ size, even though studies have shown that employer-provided regulations are not equally demanding to different businesses (Gruber, 2004). The primary purpose of this paper is to determine whether the Massachusetts healthcare reform has, in fact, improved health insurance coverage. If the reform indeed improved the coverage, which channels were utilized to accomplish this? In order to better assess this issue, one explored the