When asked to answer the question of the effect of the Massachusetts health insurance laws on their health in terms of affordability, quality of medical care, and their access to a primary care doctor, many Massachusetts residents point out that the new law has little to no effect on their lives at all. On the other hand, some Massachusetts residents say the law has had a major impact, especially for families who have a single source of income.

The Massachusetts health reform law requires most employers to provide their employees with some form of employer-sponsored health insurance, but the new state law also imposes a requirement that insurers cover a specific percentage of those employees' health costs. The Massachusetts insurance law says employers must cover this "employer-paid" portion of the health costs of their employees, regardless of how many employees are covered.

The Massachusetts health law also imposes a mandate that employers offer health benefits to employees if they work for a company that has fewer than fifty workers. These benefits must also be offered to part-time employees who are working for a company of at least five employees. This requirement does not apply to the self-employed or to individuals who work for a company that has more than fifty employees.

Employers and employees both have the option to reduce the amount of employer-paid coverage they receive by increasing their health insurance premiums. This increases the cost of health coverage for the employee and decreases it for the employer. Because of this cost adjustment, the Massachusetts law has given employers a major incentive to ensure that their employees have adequate access to health services. Since the cost of health insurance premiums is always going up, employers find it easier to provide health coverage to their employees than to their employers' employees.

Other states' health insurance laws allow an individual to purchase a private health plan that pays a fixed percentage of his or her health care costs. While an individual can obtain individual health plans in other states, he or she must pay these premiums on a monthly basis. A family, or a married couple with children, may purchase a group plan from an insurer that pays a fixed percentage of the cost of their health insurance costs. In Massachusetts, however, the family or married couple must meet a certain income requirement in order to purchase an individual health plan.

Although the Massachusetts law requires health insurance companies to offer coverage to their employees in most instances, some companies provide a wider array of health coverage. in addition to employer-paid coverage to their employees. For example, one Massachusetts insurance company, United Healthcare, allows its employees to obtain a special, preferred health plan for themselves as well as their dependents. Although United elevate-insurance does not cover pre-existing medical conditions in Massachusetts, its employees have the choice of purchasing an individual or family plan that pays a larger percentage of their health expenses.

Some Massachusetts companies provide a group health plan that pays a larger percentage of the cost of their health benefits to employees. In addition, these companies also offer a large variety of individual and family plans. For example, United Healthcare provides health insurance through a network of doctors and hospitals. The network is designed to give every member of the network access to high-quality, low-cost health services.

Massachusetts insurance companies cannot deny their insured any benefits for any reason. They are not required to provide health coverage to their insured's children or spouses or for reasons of age or marital status, but the law does not require them to extend this type of benefit to the children of unmarried parents.