MassHealth Equality Bill Will Become Law!

Massachusetts House and Senate have approved the MassHealth Equality Bill - next step is the Governor's office for his signature! He is expected to sign the bill.

The passage of the MassHealth Equality bill attracted far less publicity than the 1913 law repeal bill, but if it becomes law it could have a far greater impact on the lives of same-sex couples living in Massachusetts. This bill will ensure that married same sex couples have equal access to the marital benefits that Medicaid offers to opposite sex couples. It's the first bill (and soon to be law) in Massachusetts that enforces the Goodridge decision for marriage equality.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Liz Malia (D-Jamaica Plain), would require the state to treat married same-sex couples the same as their heterosexual peers in administering benefits through MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. MassHealth is federally funded and cannot legally recognize same-sex marriages because of the 1996 federal Defense Of Marriage Act, thus same-sex married couples cannot access many of the financial protections and benefits for spouses that other married couples receive. Malia’s bill would have the state pay the extra costs for whatever services same-sex couples would receive through MassHealth if they were recognized by the federal government.

"This actually affects a very limited number of people. It’s specifically about LGBT elders who are poor, essentially, and it’s essentially ensuring they get the healthcare coverage if one of the partners is institutionalized or seriously ill, making sure the other partner can stay in the home, which we do now for elderly straight couples. ... Essentially we think it’s a very discrete segment of the population, and it’s an equity piece," said Malia.

-Adapted from “MassHealth Equality Bill Will Become Law!”, LGBT Aging Project , July 30, 2008and “ MassHealth Equality bill passes in House” by Ethan Jacobs, associate editor with contributions from Max Gelber, intern, Bay Windows, Jul 15, 2008 at:http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=77472. Thanks to Chuck McCorkle for forwarding information.

07/08