HEALTH CARE
CommonWealth Beacon dives into the present and future of health and wellness in Massachusetts through its coverage of medical breakthroughs, regional disparities, insurance reshuffles, and the nitty-gritty of health policy.
Massachusetts celebrates health care milestone amid gathering storm clouds
Twenty years after Massachusetts passed landmark health care reform legislation that gave the state the highest rate of insurance coverage in the country, the leading players behind the law gathered in the same storied meeting hall where the 2006 bill was signed to celebrate their uncommon achievement.
Methuen Hospital will be next in a string of maternity unit closures since 2010
This will be the 12th maternity service closure in Massachusetts – five of which have occurred in Gateway Cities – since 2010. The state technically doesn’t have any maternity care deserts – counties without hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care, and no obstetric providers. But recent losses have experts and advocates sounding the alarm.
Taking stock of Massachusetts health care reform at 20
Two decades later, there is plenty to say about how it came to be, what its impact has been, and what the challenges are today for Massachusetts health care. Today, we are publishing six essays capturing a wide range of opinions on the law.
Doula certification effort set for launch this spring
“The Department of Public Health is working with MassHealth to implement more than 20 provisions within the 2024 maternal health law designed to bolster access to services and tackle racial disparities in care outcomes.”
‘It just requires people to be destitute’: Healey draws criticism over push to tighten eligibility for safety-net program
Five years after lawmakers scrapped the asset limit attached to the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program, Gov. Maura Healey wants to bring it back at a higher threshold — a move that advocates say will impose unnecessary burdens on at-risk recipients.
Growing health care pressure drives up spending in Healey’s annual budget
MassHealth spending would increase more than 7 percent under Gov. Maura Healey’s new state budget proposal, roughly twice as much as all other state spending in a reflection of the challenge Beacon Hill faces to control health care costs.
Trump administration targets program for chronically homeless residents, sparking fear for vulnerable populations in cities like Springfield
The overhaul has been temporarily and partially blocked by a federal judge, but the move is impacting local administrators of the federal program across Massachusetts and has threatened millions of dollars in funding for permanent housing and thousands of beds for the chronically homeless.
What’s behind Massachusetts’s $250m investment in health insurance subsidies
The state still has a few days left of open enrollment through the Massachusetts Health Connector. And from executive director Audrey Gasteier’s perspective, Massachusetts saw “exactly what we worried we would see this open enrollment,” both due to “congressional inaction” on renewing the subsidies and the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year.
Healey unveils $250 million health insurance relief plan
Federal enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of December, creating turmoil for residents whose subsidies had protected them from steep premium hikes.
As cases rise, flu-related illness claims lives of two Boston children
TWO BOSTON CHILDREN under the age of two have died from flu-related illness, marking the city’s first pediatric influenza deaths since 2013 and raising alarms as flu cases surge and vaccination rates remain low. One of the deaths was reported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health earlier this week, while the second was confirmed overnight, bringing the statewide total of pediatric flu-related deaths this season to four. “This is obviously a devastating loss for both of their families,” Boston Public Health Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu said Tuesday. “And we actually in Boston have not had a pediatric flu death…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.