MassHealth Updates

Elderly and Disabled Immigrants

There is still nothing happening with the group of 3,298 elderly and disabled immigrants on MassHealth Essential who were mailed sponsorship forms over the past several months. The state is supposed to be downgrading 55% of this group to MassHealth Limited because they did not return their sponsorship forms and 18% because their sponsor’s income is too high. However, the state still has not sent out downgrade notices, so the group remains on MassHealth Essential. (The House and Senate versions of the budget provide funding for this group to remain on MassHealth Essential, and prohibit the sponsorship deeming requirements that were imposed by Romney earlier this year. See accompanying story on budget.)

MassHealth Essential

The state has indicated that they have reached the cap, and will close enrollment in MassHealth Essential at any moment. They will continue to accept applications, but will place applicants on a waiting list. Applicants will be able to get Free Care in the meantime. (There is a federal cap of 44,000 for this program. However, the state can only enroll as many people as would cost the program $160 million annually, and the state now estimates that the capped amount should be lower, at approximately 43,000.) The state has already enrolled above that number, so they will need to wait for that many more members to fall off before enrolling from the waiting list.

(Funding for MassHealth Essential was increased in the final Senate budget to allow for enrollment of an additional 10,000 individuals. See accompanying story on budget.) Even if funding for MassHealth Essential is increased in the final state budget, there will still be a period of time from July 1 st – October 1 st that the program would continue to be underfunded.

-From Kim Simonian’s notes of Health Care for All - MassHealth Defense Group meeting, May 31, 2005. Thanks Kim!

05/2005