Massachusetts is the national leader in providing health insurance coverage to its residents, thanks to health reform measures adopted a decade ago. Data released today by the U.S. Census Department and summarized in a new MassBudget report show the state's health insurance coverage rate in 2015 was 97 percent, up about half a point from 2014. The gap between Massachusetts' "nearly-universal" health care coverage and fully "universal" health care coverage gets smaller every year.

 

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that last year only 2.8 percent of Massachusetts residents, 189,000 people, still do not have coverage. Nationally, the rate of uninsured was 9.4 percent, over three times higher.


Today's data shows that there are 15 million fewer people without health insurance than when key provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2013. That is a remarkable policy accomplishment, and it started right here in Massachusetts. Our state led the way by creating near-universal coverage - and is a model for the nation.