President Obama signed into law a historic package of health reforms that will dramatically improve the state of health care across America. The new health reform law will guarantee that everyone—businesses large and small, seniors, children, those who currently have insurance, and those who don't—have access to health coverage they can afford. The new law will address many of the problems in state health care systems so that residents will be able to obtain and keep high-quality, affordable coverage that meets their needs.

In these reports, we discuss major gaps in state health coverage systems—gaps that allow insurers to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, to charge premiums that are unaffordable for families and businesses, and to make obtaining care difficult even for those who have insurance. We also discuss the significant ways that health reform addresses these gaps, providing help to residents across the states. 

* Massachusetts data are not reportable because implementation of the state's health reform law began in 2006 and continued into the report period. For more information on health reform in Massachusetts, please see our report, Massachusetts Health Reform of 2006.