Dramatic increase in Boston hospital workers
and their children without health care

Massachusetts hospital employees and their children are increasingly forced to use MassHealth, the state insurance program for low-income residents, and the Uncompensated Care Pool, the state safety net program that pays some health care costs for uninsured residents.

The question is, why are Massachusetts taxpayers subsidizing hospitals that should be providing care to their own employees? Should hospitals treat employees similar to WalMart, where workers are encouraged to sign up for state health care programs? Let’s look closer at this alarming trend:

  • In the 2006 fiscal year, Massachusetts spent approximately $1,400 per user on MassHealth and Uncompensated Care Pool services for hospital employees and their dependents. The total cost to the state was $13,014,483.
  • Of this amount, $8,615,115 covered services for Academic Medical Center (AMC) hospital employees and their dependents.
  • Costs to MassHealth for services received by dependents of hospital employees jumped 23% from fiscal year 2005 to 2006.
  • There were 2,817 hospital workers enrolled in MassHealth and 1,514 hospital workers who used the Uncompensated Care Pool in fiscal year 2006.
  • Among a group of 11 hospitals that includes Boston’s largest academic medical centers, the rate of enrollment in MassHealth increased 15% from fiscal year 2005 to 2006. At this rate, enrollment in MassHealth among AMC workers will double within five years.