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.
On Saturday, June 6, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) will be facilitating a daylong conversation about race and health in an event co-sponsored by Tapestry Health and the Springfield Disparities Project.
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.
We’ve been hearing in the news lately that, for a variety of reasons, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a primary care provider in Massachusetts. If a person’s first language isn’t English, this challenge can be even more daunting. The good news is that there is an excellent resource that can help anyone in Massachusetts find a primary care provider.
In both our Amherst and Boston March meetings, special guest Lisa Renee Holderby, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Community Health Worker Network (MACHW), shared the story of how Community Health Workers are gaining recognition and clout in Massachusetts and nationally. HAN members on both sides of the state reported that unemployment is hitting their communities hard, and that they are spending lots of time trying to help people who are confused about how to apply for the appropriate medical benefit programs.
Please also see our complete March HAN meeting notes. In this section of the agenda, HAN members discussed helping clients navigate budget cuts and processing delays, outreach strategies that are working, and what to do about a recent glitch at MassHealth.
Please also see our complete March HAN meeting notes. In this section of the agenda, HAN members discussed concerns for elders, people with disabilities, and an increasing number of unemployed people during budget-crunching times—and helping clients through an often-delayed system.
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.
As an attorney at Western Massachusetts Legal Services, I helped many clients appeal and prove their status as "permanently and totally disabled" in order to be determined eligible for MassHealth. Over the past year or so, I noticed that there was a significant drop in the number of people calling me about appealing their MassHealth disability determinations. While this could be a result of many different factors, I tend to think it is because people are found eligible for Commonwealth Care instead, and therefore do not appeal the disability determination for MassHealth.
