MHPF Highlights
Healthy Aging Forum Looks at Patient-Centered Care For Seniors
Forum Looks at Successes in MassHealth Pharmacy Program
MHPF in the News
Why Are Americans Being Forced to Buy Health Insurance?
The Massachusetts mandate
Press Releases
Release 5.17.12
Public policy changes needed to get Massachusetts children physically active
Release 6.21.10
Report Confirms Massachusetts Will Realize Coverage Gains and Financial Benefits Through National Health Reform
Forum held on December 10, 2012
Healthy Aging in Massachusetts: Where Do We Go From here?
The Massachusetts Health Policy Forum and Tufts Health Plan Foundation invite health leaders in Massachusetts to the third policy forum on healthy aging titled, “Healthy Aging in Massachusetts: Where Do We Go From Here?” The goal of the forum is to take note of where we are and what steps we can take to help make Massachusetts a model state for healthy aging. Our keynote speaker, Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, will provide a dynamic framework for healthy aging. Professor Walter Leutz from the Heller School, Brandeis University and Dr. Beth Dugan from the University of Massachusetts Boston Gerontology Institute, will present the action resulting from our last two forums and a Healthy Aging Status Report Card for continued progress. We will also hear from Secretary Ann Hartstein, Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Senate Chair of the Committee on Elder Affairs Senator Pat Jehlen, and a range of other healthy aging leaders in the state. The event will also include a Poster Session with displays of innovative healthy aging initiatives from throughout the Commonwealth. An informal breakfast will be served from 8 – 8:30 a.m. You can register for this event at http://regonline.com/health3. If you have any questions, please contact Jamie Walzer at jwalzer@brandeis.edu or (781) 736-3940. 
Forum held on November 29, 2012
Impact of the Presidential Election on Health Policy 2012
Our upcoming event will feature analysis of election results by Robert Blendon, renowned Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. Reaction to the presentation and insight into the ramification for national and state health care reform will be provided by both Philip W. Johnston, President of Johnston Associates and by Christie Ferguson, Director of the Health Benefits Exchange in Rhode Island and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health. The event will be moderated by Martha Bebinger of WBUR.
An informal breakfast will be served. Registration will take place between 8:30 and 9 a.m.
If you have any questions, please contact Jamie Walzer at jwalzer@brandeis.edu or (781) 736-3940.
This event is made possible in part through a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.
To register, please go to http://regonline.com/elections2012
Forum held on May 16, 2012
Overweight and Obesity in Massachusetts: A Focus on Physical Activity
Childhood obesity continues to be a major concern for the nation and for the state of Massachusetts. But while a number of efforts are underway to address the problem, Massachusetts is still one of six states to see an increase in obesity rates for the second year in a row. Even worse, the Commonwealth ranks dead last with the lowest percentage of high school students who get the recommended sixty minutes of physical activity daily. The battle against obesity requires addressing both nutrition and physical activity, but less attention has been paid to physical activity, despite evidence linking it to improved health and academic success. At the forum we discussed why our children are not physically active, and the associated health costs and consequences. We examined best practices and potential solutions, and hear key stakeholder and policymaker reactions. This forum was made possible by generous grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, and The Boston Foundation.