Commonwealth Care, Other Subsidized Coverage, Affordability

The economic downturn shaped a lot of our discussion – how it affects clients, state services, and our own organizations. For example, more clients find themselves in tears during appointments – some with problems like home foreclosure that outreach workers just can’t help fix. Many HAN organizations are taking on additional responsibilities with fewer staff. CP has also cut back staffing; we are now closed on Wednesdays.

"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.

This winter, about 100,000 households in the Commonwealth were protected from losing their heat, electricity and other utilities by the state utility shut-off protection laws, which prevents shut-off for households whose circumstances meet certain conditions. This protection ended on May 1, and people have begun getting shut-off notices. These notices are bad news, but CAN be used to request a MassHealth premium waiver or Commonwealth Care premium waiver.

During the recent round of MassHealth Training Forum meetings, we were informed that commercial fishermen who are eligible for the Fishing Partnership Health Plan are not eligible for Commonwealth Care, because they are eligible for another state-subsidized health plan. The non-profit FPHP is a fine program offering a great benefit package through Harvard Pilgrim. The premium subsidy of approximately 50% is funded by a combination of federal, state and private benefactor dollars. This is a great option for many fishermen.