SUMMARY

Boston is ground zero for health reform—with state-mandated universal health insurance, world class teaching hospitals and community health center.  However, stubbornly high costs, a shortage of primary care physicians, quality concerns and persistent racial/ethnic disparities represent the next frontier.
What is the Health Sector?

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WHAT IS THE HEALTH SECTOR?

“Health” is a state of physical and mental well being that largely reflects diet, exercise, safety and environmental factors as well as genetic luck. “Health care” encompasses the private and public  infrastructure required to diagnose and treat illness and is usually divided , while “public health” departments emphasize prevention and community interventions. Massachusetts Department of Public Health is part of the Commonwealth’s Health and Human Services Cabinet, and coordinates and oversees state policy and a variety of statewide and focused initiatives. The Boston Public Health Commission, descendant of the nation’s first public health department, provides leadership to partners in three graduate schools and to a variety of community-based initiatives. Boston’s health care system includes 3 major nonprofit insurers, 22 inpatient hospitals, of which 14 are teaching hospitals, 3 medical schools,  25 community health centers, many of which offer specific cultural and linguistic competence. The sector also includes  implementation of Massachusetts’ health reform legislation, including a “Connector” and quality and fiscal assessment oversight as well as links to the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs as well as academic experts and advocacy organizations. Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic Area alone concentrates 37,000 employees and 15,000 students, and. Boston and Cambridge are the center of a life sciences “super cluster” anchored in teaching hospitals, independent institutions and private sector companies— the nation’s largest, according to the Milken Institute, which defines “life sciences” as the pharmaceutical industry, medical devices industry, and biotechnology industry. A major part of Greater Boston’s economy—as well as business, municipal and family budgets—the health care sector grew during the recession as public health budgets were cut.

Key Trends

	Massachusetts leads the nation in health coverage for all residents More »

Accomplishments & Developments

	Recent City and state legistlation have expanded mental health services for children and limited the availability of tobacco products More »

Challenges

	Individual, employer and government spending on health care, as opposed to public health, continues to crowd-out spending on all other areas More »