title: Massachusetts health reform: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
abstract: The Massachusetts plan to extend health insurance coverage to nearly all of the state's residents offers several lessons related to health reform, including the following: Bipartisan cooperation is possible; multiple policy mechanisms must be employed to achieve meaningful change; the starting point-in terms of the rate of uninsurance, the degree of insurance market regulation, and so on-matters; and implementation details are critical. In addition to these lessons, we argue that objective analysis and a comprehensive framework for evaluating alternative policy options are needed for similar reforms to be enacted elsewhere.
authors.affiliation: RAND Health, Santa Monica, California, USA. mcglynn@rand.org
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: McGlynn
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wasserman
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D011057:Politics; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States; D019472:Universal Health Insurance / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends