When the Affordable Care Act was officially signed into law on 2010 by President Barack Obama, experts within the industry compared it to the Massachusetts system, which was put in place under then Governor Mitt Romney in 2006. And, in the seven years since the Bay State's health law went into effect, individuals' well-being there has risen, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School reported in their analysis that within the first five years of the health law going into motion in the Bay State, the health and wellness of Massachusetts residents "improved measurably, especially among the poor, and near-poor" when contrasted with residents in the five other New England states.
Additionally, Massachusetts residents were found to be more likely to have health insurance, whether through employee benefits or a private insurer and not as inclined to say that they couldn't afford the cost of treatment versus residents in neighboring states.
Philip Van der Wees, Ph.D. a Harvard researcher attending the Ivy League school when the study was underway, indicated that Massachusetts has been something of a trailblazer.
"Everyone has been looking over the past few years at Massachusetts, which was the first state to show the rest of the U.S. that near-universal coverage could be achieved," said Van der Wees. "We found that people have gained in general, mental, and physical health, and that some preventive measures improved."
He added that as the ACA distances itself from the enrollment period and more people start signing up, the hope is that Americans in general will experience similar effects.
Critics of the national health care law say that the Massachusetts law and the federal one are different, in that one is confined to a specific state while the ACA affects everyone. Romney himself recently told Fox News Sunday that, also unlike the ACA, Massachusetts residents who had a plan prior to the 2006 mandate going into effect could keep it, not being subject to a specific set of standards, or essential health benefits.
