The economic downtown shaped the conversation at our Boston HAN meeting on November 13, as it had in Amherst the week before. Outreach workers reported a big increase in new applicants; they’re also hoping that an incoming Obama administration might make it easier for some of them to get into the system.
The situation was all too familiar: A young woman and her father met with one of our Community Outreach Workers and asked how to sign up for health insurance. A quick check in My Account Page (MAP) found that her MassHealth Essential had ended mid-month because she had started a new part-time job. MAP also showed she was already Commonwealth Care eligible. The Outreach Worker explained how to enroll in Commonwealth Care and all of the benefits it would provide starting next month.
"Well, the problem is that she’s a heroin addict," the father said. "Her rehab clinic checks her insurance every day and won’t help her out until she gets her insurance back."
Awards may be renewed for up to three years and will cover post-enrollment activities.
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.
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.
New rules affect how immigrants can access health care benefits.
Changes to HSN are explained by Division of Health Care Finance and Policy staff.
