439,000 more get health coverage

"That 159,000 is almost twice what was projected. It translates into almost $1 billion more spent by employers on premiums," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-funded public policy group. Widmer said the new report, showing that 159,000 residents have gained insurance through their employers "makes a mockery of the state's allegation that employers have not done their fair share."