MassHealth, Health Connector, Health Care for All Detail Efforts to Maintain Coverage

SPRINGFIELD — MassHealth Assistant Secretary Mike Levine, Health Connector Executive Director Audrey Morse Gasteier, Health Care for All (HCFA) Director of Communications and Community Engagement Maria Gonzalez Albuixech, and others recently got together to discuss the MassHealth redeterminations process and detail ongoing efforts in Springfield and Western Mass. to ensure MassHealth members know what they can do to stay covered.

Since March 2020, MassHealth has suspended eligibility redeterminations and maintained members’ healthcare coverage in compliance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with the federal Maintenance of Effort provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Starting on April 1, 2023, for the following 12 months, MassHealth is redetermining its full caseload of 2.3 million members, with more than 223,000 of those members residing in Hampden County. Members who need to respond to MassHealth will receive a blue envelope, requesting information that will be used to determine eligibility for continued coverage.

Additionally, the Health Connector is hosting an enrollment event at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield on Saturday, June 17 from noon to 4 p.m. People who need health insurance, or have questions about their MassHealth coverage, can sit down directly with a trained health-insurance assister to receive help, including signing up for a new plan if they need coverage. Along with coverage support, the event includes food, activities, and free entrance into the Hall of Fame for people who meet with an assister.

Massachusetts is committed to assisting current members to reduce unnecessary loss of healthcare coverage and ensuring that all members receive the appropriate coverage during the redeterminations process. MassHealth and the Massachusetts Health Connector have an integrated eligibility process that ensures that information about members who are no longer eligible for MassHealth will automatically be sent to the Connector for outreach.

“MassHealth has been working tirelessly since redeterminations were suspended three years ago to make sure we handle this process as humanely, effectively, and efficiently as possible. As prepared as we are, we recognize that this poses an additional challenge for individuals and families who rely on us for healthcare coverage,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said. “We are grateful to the community organizations that have partnered with us to help contact those who may be difficult to reach, and to the organizations that are helping us prevent a gap in coverage for Massachusetts residents.”