Abstract
This study examines the impact of major health insurance reform on payments made in the health caresector. We study the prices of services paid to physicians in the privately insured market during theMassachusetts health care reform. The reform increased the number of insured individuals as well asintroduced an online marketplace where insurers compete. We estimate that, over the reform period,physician payments increased at least 11 percentage points relative to control areas. Payment increasesbegan around the time legislation passed the House and Senate—the period in which their was a highprobability of the bill eventually becoming law. This result is consistent with fixed-duration paymentcontracts being negotiated in anticipation of future demand and competition.
