Health Insurance for the Unemployed: New Reference Documents

Partners HealthCare Public Payer Policy and Operations recently created some materials that show different programs that may be available for people who are losing their employer sponsored insurance.

They are a

• Flowchart explaining the eligibility process for Medical Security Plan (MSP), Commonwealth Care and the new Federal COBRA Subsidy that is part of the Federal Stimulus.

and a

• Grid of public program options for the unemployed, including the Federal COBRA Subsidy.

Both are on our website: www.mghsocialwork.org > Staff Access > Unemployment.

Related Updates

Due to very high volume, the state is taking a very long time to process MSP applications; processing may take up to 7 weeks. Patient financial counselors should do a Virtual Gateway application to get patients on Health Safety Net in the interim to avoid gaps in coverage. HSN is available while patients are waiting for their MSP application to be processed, and also as secondary coverage once they are approved for MSP.

Effective February 22, 2009, those receiving unemployment benefits receive an additional $25 supplement in their weekly payment under the Federal Stimulus Act. MassHealth staff will manually subtract the $25 supplement from the reported unemployment compensation. Patient financial counselors should report the total unemployment income on the Virtual Gateway.

- From “Health Insurance Options for the Unemployed”, Pragya Rizal, Assistant manager, Public Payer Policy and Operations, Partners HealthCare, April 20, 2009.

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