Massachusetts insurance mandate lowers death rate

Since “Romneycare” was phased in, mortality fell by 2.9 percent

After 2006, when Massachusetts put in place a policy aimed at universal health insurance, mortality rates among those affected by the law fell by 2.9 percent, researchers report in the May 6 Annals of Internal Medicine.

The law, enacted when Mitt Romney was governor, is widely seen as a model for the national Affordable Care Act, sometimes called Obamacare.