Western HAN members are currently waiting—for national health care reform to take shape, for the impact of state budget cuts to become clear, and for confirmation that the CeltiCare Bridge program provider network is broad enough here to begin enrolling eligible legal immigrants on December 1.
This week, automatic enrollments will begin in the Boston area for "Commonwealth Care Bridge," the new program for legal immigrants whose Commonwealth Care coverage was ended on August 31, 2009 because of the changes in state law.
Flyers explain how to activate Commonwealth Care and MassHealth Essential insurance
People who lost their Commonwealth Care coverage on September 1 because they are deemed Aliens With Special Status (AWSS) will be enrolled into a new CeltiCare plan over the next few months. In the meantime, they have access to either MassHealth Limited + the Health Safety Net, or the Health Safety Net (HSN) alone.
Yesterday, Governor Patrick announced that CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts has been selected to offer coverage to 31,000 people identified as "Aliens With Special Status" who today lost their Commonwealth Care coverage.
Since the legislature decided to end Commonwealth Care eligibility for some legal immigrants as of September 1, HAN members have been fielding lots of calls from concerned and confused immigrant clients.
MassHealth recently trained specific workers at the MassHealth Enrollment Centers (MECs) to process updates to your clients' immigration status. It is important to check and update immigration information right away, because members who are deemed "Aliens with Special Status" (AWSS) will no longer be eligible for Commonwealth Care after August 31.
A simplified guide to health coverage options for the unemployed is available from BMC HealthNet.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is seeking new applicants for several grant areas and for its transformative Institute for Community Health Leadership.
The legislature has restored $2.5 million for outreach and enrollment in the fiscal year 2010 state budget by overriding Governor Patrick's veto of Outside Section 129.
