Tools from MLRI can help translate some knowledge of a person’s immigration status into eligibility.
Enrollments usually slow down during the summertime, but this year, outreach workers are seeing increasing numbers of people needing help. At our July HAN meetings, we also had the opportunity to have some dialogue with Rebecca Balder and Carolyn Minkin of the Health Safety Net about upcoming changes.
"Outreach & enrollment" means much more than putting up posters and helping people fill out MassHealth applications. Recently, over the course of a two hour appointment, my supervisor and I counseled one household on eleven different public health insurance, subsidy and care programs. We helped them file four separate applications to five different insurance programs, putting together a patchwork of care options to cover the hole left by the loss of employer-sponsored insurance.
The Massachusetts Legislature continues Outreach and enrollment "mini-grants" and supports vital health access activities.
Our June 6 Western HAN meeting was an opportunity to step back and reflect on the next steps toward universal coverage in Massachusetts.
This month, outreach workers gave some powerful examples of how the Commonwealth Care Open Enrollment process has added some new twists to the problem of access to providers.
Debate begins May 21; support is needed.
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.
Changes in premiums and co-pays should influence choices.
Making sure people who apply for Commonwealth Care are able to get and keep their coverage was on the minds of outreach workers at the Western Massachusetts HAN meeting in April, which featured a presentation by the Director of Commonwealth Care, Melissa Boudreault.