More in Mass. have health insurance, study finds

Two and a half years after Massachusetts passed a law mandating near-universal health insurance coverage, the number of working-age adults with insurance has continued to climb, employer-sponsored insurance has gone up, and approval ratings remain constant, according to a new report by the Urban Institute with implications for the national debate on revamping the country's health care system.

The study, commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, found that 4 percent of adults under age 65, or about 162,000 people, were uninsured in the fall of 2008, compared to 7 percent in fall 2007 and 13 percent in fall 2006. Uninsured people tended to be under 35, male, single, and healthy. Most said they had trouble affording insurance.

Despite fears that employers would drop insurance plans for their workers when public coverage was offered, adults covered by employer-sponsored plans rose to 71 percent in 2008, up slightly from 69 percent in 2007 and 67 percent in 2006.

Approval ratings have stayed about the same at 72 percent of adults, up from 61 percent in 2007 and 68 percent in 2006.

Many of the features President Obama mentioned in his speech about remaking the nation's health care system have parallels in the Massachusetts model enacted in July 2006.

In addition to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, the study was also funded by the Commonwealth Fund, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.