An Inside Look: Affordability Findings from the Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey

DATE: February 3, 2021

CHIA today released the first installment in a new series of research notes, An Inside Look: Affordability Findings from the Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey (MHIS). This series will provide an in-depth analysis of health care affordability issues that Massachusetts residents face despite high rates of health insurance coverage in the Commonwealth.

Findings for the Inside Looks series come from the Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey (MHIS). The MHIS is a biennial population-based survey that provides information on health insurance coverage, health care access and use, and perceived health care affordability in Massachusetts.

This first installment includes two notes: Unexpected Medical Bills are a Challenge for Many and Problems Paying Family Medical Bills are a Burden for Some.

Key findings include:

In 2019, 37% of insured residents had an unexpected medical bill* in their family.
Residents who received an unexpected medical bill in their family were more than three times as likely as those who did not to experience affordability issues in 2019.
In 2019, 15% of insured residents reported having problems paying family medical bills.
Of insured residents who had problems paying medical bills, more than half were contacted by a collection agency.

Future installments, to be published at the beginning of March and April, will cover family spending on health care, high deductible health plans, medical debt, and unmet health care needs.

For additional information on the MHIS, please visit https://www.chiamass.gov/massachusetts-health-insurance-survey/.

*Unexpected medical bills may reflect a variety of factors, including gaps in health insurance literacy, receiving care from an out-of-network provider who was thought to be in-network (often referred to as surprise medical billing), or balance billing by providers (defined as billing the patient directly for the balance not covered by insurance).