The Board of the Health Insurance Connector Authority voted to postpone the effective date for the MCC requirements that all health insurance plans must meet. Although all Massachusetts residents are required to have health insurance coverage by July 1, 2007, the MCC requirements that all health insurance plans must meet in order to be compliant with the new law will become effective January 1, 2009.

MassAHU, as part of a large contingent of business groups and health plans, signed on to a letter addressed to Leslie Kirwan, who chairs the Board of the Connector, in which the group's concerns were expressed about the Connector staff's recommendation for MCC. Although committed to the success of the Commonwealth’s Health Care Reform Law, the comments relative to MCC were intended to prevent disqualifying the coverage for hundreds of thousands of residents and avoid unnecessary burdens on individuals that currently have coverage and the employers who provide it to them.

The Connector Board, in response to the concerns of the group, voted to make revisions to the MCC requirements. Hearings on the MCC Regulations will be held across the state during the month of May. These hearing will give all interested parties a chance to comment further on the regulations and offer any suggestions for changes. The MCC regulations will then be voted on at the June meeting of the Connector.