A special election period allows people laid off from small businesses access to the federal COBRA subsidy, beginning July 2, 2009.
When the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted health care reform, lawmakers neglected a large segment of the population: students, like me. Currently, almost every university-offered plan fails to meet the Minimum Creditable Coverage (MCC) standards, the same standards that every health insurance plan in Massachusetts must meet.
Commonwealth Care members who live in areas where more than one health plan is offered may change their plans between May 25 and June 25, 2009.
Outreach workers at this month’s HAN meeting in Amherst reported happily that it’s getting easier to communicate with the MassHealth Enrollment Center (MEC) and Central Processing Unit (CPU). Delays in the Medical Security Program (MSP), on the other hand, only appear to be getting worse. We were joined this month by Michael Norton and Niki Conte from the Commonwealth Connector Authority, who talked extensively with HAN members about problems and solutions within Commonwealth Care.
Both unemployed people and outreach workers continue to have difficulties interfacing with the Medical Security Program (MSP). Mostly, it is the time spent waiting for the application to be processed, and the anxiety this brings; a HAN member mentioned a client whose wife has been hospitalized while the application is pending. It is often impossible to get through to an MSP representative over the phone.
Overall, standards for 2009 are less stringent than they were in 2008.
A helpful expenses form makes it easier for unemployed people to prove they can’t afford premium costs. Thanks to Karen Landry at the Gateway Health Access Program in Gardner for sharing it.
A know-your-rights flyer from Community Partners explains new MassHealth copay increases and reminds members that even when they cannot pay the copay at the counter, the pharmacy is required to dispense their prescriptions.
This month, people were talking about budget cuts, staff reductions, and unemployment. Many outreach and enrollment sites are facing cuts though their caseloads are increasing. As unemployment rises, calls for assistance with the Medical Security Program (MSP) are making up half the volume at some outreach sites. Some of these clients have already been unemployed for a long time and are losing their MSP coverage, and don’t know what to do. Outreach workers are being called upon by businesses to go out to workplaces and explain health benefits under unemployment, and one site said they haven’t had this kind of call volume since health care reform first started.
