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.
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.
Approximately 31,000 Commonwealth Care members who are legal immigrants could lose their Commonwealth Care coverage as of August 1, 2009. A helpful tip sheet and checklist from the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) can help you figure out who may still be eligible.
The following is the second part of our May 28 Boston HAN meeting notes. It includes the Report on Network Standards in Commonwealth Care and Policy Updates from Health Care For All.
28,000 Commonwealth Care members are slated to lose their coverage under the FY2010 budget. Many of these people would never have gotten coverage without the help of outreach and enrollment professionals like you.
The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute has updated their excellent MassHealth Advocacy Guide for 2009.
