Ibis Reproductive Health

Low-income women's access to contraception after Massachusetts health care reform

In 2006, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed legislation aimed at improving access to health care by mandating all residents have health insurance by July 2007. Massachusetts’ groundbreaking effort to achieve universal health care for its residents offers a unique opportunity to examine how health care reform policies that include an individual mandate and build on the existing private health insurance system affect women’s access to family planning and reproductive health services.

With support from the National Institute for Reproductive Health and the Title X Regional Office for New England, Ibis and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) Family Planning Program have undertaken a project to explore whether health care reform in Massachusetts has had or is likely to have an impact on low-income women's access to contraception. The goal of the project is to assess how access to contraception for low-income women (i.e., women at ≤300% of the federal poverty level) in Massachusetts has changed as a result of health care reform and to identify strategies to overcome potential barriers to access to family planning in Massachusetts. Specifically, we aim to:

Document the perspectives and experiences of low-income women seeking health care and of MDPH-funded family planning agencies and clinics providing contraceptive services before and after health care reform in Massachusetts;
Identify potential new barriers to accessing contraception for low-income women under health care reform, and;
Highlight gaps in knowledge about the impact of health care reform on reproductive health services and outcomes and propose areas for future research.

To see summary results of this work, please read the executive summary (a Spanish version is also available). The complete report is available here.

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