Heating bills and health care

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.

Also, fuel assistance is something we think about during the winter months, but households living at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level may still apply for it to pay these bills (even though the bills may total more than the available aid).

• Find out where to call for help with fuel assistance
• Do a quick eligibility check at MassResources

Thanks to Neil Cronin of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute for this information!