Yesterday, I finally read in detail the the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center's take on the Senate Ways and Means budget, and it confirmed what I knew: there were so many cuts it was hard to know where to start. Since then (about 15 hours later?) I've learned of significant restorations to many of the programs I was going to tell you about, including Prescription Advantage, MassHealth and Commonwealth Care adult dental, and adult day habilitation.
Representatives John Scibak (Hadley, South Hadley, Easthampton) and James O’Day (West Boylston, Worcester) have proposed amendments to restore the line item and the funding for outreach and enrollment. Co-sponsors are needed by noon tomorrow and amendments must be submitted by 5pm tomorrow. The more co-sponsors sign on to these amendments, the more likely funding is to be restored.
The MassHealth Training Forum announced (PDF) that starting this week, MassHealth is again giving clients 45 days to complete and return Eligibility Review and Verification (ERV) forms. The 45 day window now applies to MassHealth, Children’s Medical Security Plan, Commonwealth Care, Health Safety Net and Healthy Start programs.
We devoted our December 5 meeting to discussing in depth the issues HAN members were concerned about and finding ways to work together to tackle them. We asked, during this time of economic trouble, how are things changing for HAN members and their clients? What challenges, needs, and priorities do HAN members have going forward?
Friends, if you are like me, you've spent the week wondering when the cuts will come and how bad they will be. And, you may be struggling to tell people how important your work is - because you're very busy doing it.
Starting this week, your clients who use the Health Safety Net should look for redetermination letters. Also, verification requests (VC-1s) for people you NEWLY enroll in MassHealth now go to the Central Processing Unit. ...I'm interested to hear how the redeterminations go for people who use the Health Safety Net.
This winter, about 100,000 households in the Commonwealth were protected from losing their heat, electricity and other utilities by the state utility shut-off protection laws, which prevents shut-off for households whose circumstances meet certain conditions. This protection ended on May 1, and people have begun getting shut-off notices. These notices are bad news, but CAN be used to request a MassHealth premium waiver or Commonwealth Care premium waiver.
I decided at the last minute to "live blog" the HCFA conference. I wanted to send some of the conference out to outreach and enrollment workers who are in their offices enrolling as I write. John McDonough & Nancy Turnbull, two of the smartest, savviest policy makers, graciously agreed to my blogging them. Here are my impressions.
Responding to outreach workers' concerns, we recently polled the Health Access Network to learn whether the reduced application timelines for the Health Safety Net are affecting people’s access. From what we've heard, the answer is likely yes.
Nikki Riel from the Women's Health Network in Franklin County sent me contact info for specific places at MassHealth (click the link for a printable PDF), including the Estate Recovery and Appeals units and various premium-paying programs.
