Examining Employers' Use of Massachusetts' Health Insurance Exchange to Inform Best Strategies Nationally Under the Affordable Care Act

This project will investigate employers’ use of the Massachusetts Health Connector, in order to inform states and the federal government about best strategies for design and operation of the new health insurance exchanges and market regulations. Federal insurance reform is modeled substantially on reforms in Massachusetts, including its version of a health insurance exchange. Despite this success, the Massachusetts Connector has failed to make major in-roads into the employer-based insurance market. However, employer participation has increased substantially over the past year. The reasons for initially low but now increasing employer use of the Massachusetts Connector have not been thoroughly studied by outside researchers. Through key informant interviews and document review, this research will produce advice to administrators and government officials by mid-2012 about how best to structure various operational elements of the new insurance exchanges to assure employer participation sufficient to maintain risk pooling. The goal of this project is to inform states and the federal government about the best strategies in the design and operation of insurance exchanges to ensure employer participation.