In April 2006, the Massachusetts Legislature passed and Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law legislation (An Act Promoting Access to Health Care) expanding health coverage to the uninsured and the underinsured through a range of initiatives. As Massachusetts begins implementing these health care reforms, other states, including Missouri, are looking to this effort as a possible model.

The Missouri Foundation for Health has launched a series of reports that analyze the Massachusetts health care reform law and the applicability of this law in Missouri. The first report, "The Missouri Health Care Landscape," compares the Missouri and Massachusetts environments. Subsequent reports in this series outline the Massachusetts proposal and explore in greater detail the challenge of translating one state's model into another environment.