Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Recently, Massachusetts passed landmark legislation designed to expand health insurance coverage. This legislation includes a requirement that all adults enroll in a health insurance plan. This mandate takes effect only if an "affordable" plan is available. The definition of affordability for individuals and families of different incomes or circumstances is a critical decision in implementation and is relevant to any state or federal reform requiring individual premium or cost-sharing contributions, or both. This analysis was done to assist the policy design process in Massachusetts and delineates an empirically based approach to setting affordability standards.
Blumberg et al. (Mon,) studied this question.