MHPF Highlights
Healthy Aging Forum Looks at Patient-Centered Care For Seniors
Forum Looks at Successes in MassHealth Pharmacy Program
MHPF in the News
Globe Gets It Backwards: National Health Reform Is Good For Massachusetts
Michael Doonan gives and update on Massachusetts Health Reform
Press Releases
Release 6.21.10
Report Confirms Massachusetts Will Realize Coverage Gains and Financial Benefits Through National Health Reform
Release 6.2.10
Two Reports Study Health Care Reform Impact on Women’s Health
Forum held on June 21, 2010
A Celebration of Health Care Reform: From Massachusetts to the Nation
Massachusetts led the nation in health care reform and served as the model for the new national health care reform law. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum held a forum that celebrated this landmark achievement and discussed the implications for the Commonwealth moving forward. Speakers included: Senator John Kerry, Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, Glen Shor from the Commonwealth Connector, Robert Seifert from Center for Health Law and Economis, Robert Blendon from Harvard School of Public Health, Deborah Enos from Neighborhood Health Plan, Toni McGuire from Great Brook Valley Health Center, and Amy Whitcomb Slemmer from Health Care For All. 
Forum held on June 2, 2010
Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Impact on Women’s Health
Understanding the experience of women under Massachusetts’ health reform model is fundamental to recognizing challenges and opportunities as the state moves toward payment and delivery system reform and implements new federal health reform laws. Women use more health services throughout their lives and face unique challenges accessing affordable care. This forum outlined the role of women’s health in health care reform, discuss the impact of health care reform on women in Massachusetts, and draw lessons for ongoing efforts in Massachusetts and the U.S. Alina Salganicoff from the Kaiser Family Foundation provided an overview of health care reform as it relates to women, followed by two panel discussions. The first panel will presented data and research on the impact of Massachusetts health reform on women’s health and health care delivery in the state. Presenters discuss key findings and identified remaining challenges and opportunities. Panelists included Sharon Long from Urban Institute; Kelly Blanchard from Ibis Reproductive Health; and Susan Sered from Suffolk University. The second panel was a roundtable discussion of implications for future health reform in Massachusetts and the U.S. Panelists included Senator Susan Fargo, Ruth Katz, Senior Health Counsel for the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives; Nancy Turnbull from Harvard School of Public Health; and Judy Waxman from National Women's Law Center. This forum was co-sponsored by the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Suffolk University Center for Women's Health and Human Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region 1 (New England), Office on Women's Healt , and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region I (New England), Office of the Regional Health Administrator.
Forum held on December 14, 2009
Healthy Aging in the Commonwealth: Pathways to Lifelong Wellness
As the baby boom generation retires and life expectancy increases, steps can and must be taken to help seniors stay healthy, active and socially engaged. National efforts and best practices around the country were described by our keynote speaker, Nancy Whitelaw, senior vice president for Healthy Aging, and director of the Center for Healthy Aging at the National Council on Aging. Challenges in our state as well as best practices were analyzed in our issue brief and discussed by a panel of top state officials and nonprofit organization leaders implementing innovative and successful programs in our communities. Speakers included: Secretary of Elder Affairs, Ann Hartstein, Anita Albright from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Robert Schreiber from Hebrew SeniorLife, and Rosa Palacios from Commonwealth Care Alliance.