January 21, 2010 3:52PM # Trouble in Massachusetts --- SHARE Yesterday, Cato released a new study, “[The Massachusetts Health Plan: Much Pain, Little Gain](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11115),” which showed that official estimates overstate the gains in health insurance coverage resulting from a 2006 Massachusetts law by at least 45 percent. The study also finds: supporters understate the law’s cost by nearly 60 percent; government programs are crowding out private insurance; self-reported health improved for some but fell for others; and young adults are responding to the law by avoiding Massachusetts. Given that the Massachusetts health plan bears a “[remarkable resemblance](http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/health-cares-biggest-hypocrite-or-hero/)” to the Obama plan, the study should serve as a warning sign to members of Congress, says Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies. The study has received coverage in [*Investor’s Business Daily*](http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=518477), [*The Wall Street Journal*](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703837004575013080421218008.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines), *[The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012005042.html)*, [*Detroit News*](http://www.detnews.com/article/20100121/OPINION01/1210335/1008/OPINION01/Mass.-reforms-reflect-ills-of-Obama-s-health-bill), [*The Washington Times*](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/21/obamas-other-massachusetts-problem/), the [Reason Foundation](http://reason.org/blog/show/-7673) and the [Pioneer Institute](http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/news/new-report-on-ma-reform/). ##### Related Tags [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).