Changes in Mortality After Massachusetts Health Care Reform
Authors: Robert Kaestner
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Letters5 May 2015Changes in Mortality After Massachusetts Health Care ReformRobert Kaestner, PhDRobert Kaestner, PhDFrom Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L15-5085 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Sommers and colleagues (1) evaluated whether the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform, which reduced the proportion of persons without health insurance, affected mortality. They concluded that it did, in fact, decrease mortality. If true, this finding is important, because relatively little evidence shows a causal link between health insurance coverage and mortality. Moreover, the Massachusetts reform was the forerunner of the reform contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The widespread media attention that Sommers and colleagues' article received reflects the significance of their finding (2).One potential problem with the analysis is that inferences ...References1. Sommers BD, Long SK, Baicker K. Changes in mortality after Massachusetts health care reform: a quasi-experimental study. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:585-93. [PMID: 24798521] doi:10.7326/M13-2275 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Tavernise S. Mortality drop seen to follow '06 health law. The New York Times. 5 May 2014. Accessed at www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/health/death-rate-fell-in-massachusetts-after-health-care-overhaul.html?_r=0 on 30 January 2015. Google Scholar3. Cameron AC, Gelbach JB, Miller DL. Bootstrap-based improvements for inference with clustered errors. Rev Econ Stat. 2008;90:414-27. CrossrefGoogle Scholar4. Conley TG, Taber CR. Inferences with "difference in differences" with a small number of policy changes. Rev Econ Stat. 2011;93:113-25. CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. Rosenbaum PR. Covariance adjustment in randomized experiments and observational studies. Stat Sci. 2002;17:286-327. doi:10.1214/ss/1042727942 CrossrefGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois.Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterest Forms.do?msNum=L15-0129. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoChanges in Mortality After Massachusetts Health Care Reform Benjamin D. Sommers , Sharon K. Long , and Katherine Baicker Changes in Mortality After Massachusetts Health Care Reform Benjamin D. Sommers , Sharon K. Long , and Katherine Baicker Changes in Mortality After Massachusetts Health Care Reform Benjamin D. Sommers , Sharon K. Long , and Katherine Baicker Changes in Mortality After Massachusetts Health Care Reform Benjamin D. Sommers , Sharon K. Long , and Katherine Baicker Metrics 5 May 2015Volume 162, Issue 9Page: 668KeywordsConflicts of interestDisclosureHealth careHealth insurance ePublished: 5 May 2015 Issue Published: 5 May 2015 CopyrightCopyright © 2015 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...