Mass. legal immigrants have until March for Commonwealth Health coverage sign up
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Boston – Nearly 40,000 Massachusetts legal immigrants will be transitioning in the upcoming weeks to Commonwealth Care coverage, after the Supreme Judicial Court’s early January decision requiring the state to re-instate eligible legal immigrants into Commonwealth Care.
“It’s morally and fiscally correct,” stated Roxanne Reddington-Wilde, of the Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. & CriticalMASS, about the ruling. “These immigrants are legally here, paying taxes and the state needs to offer them the ability to access the state’s subsidized health program, which offers preventive services as well.”
The decision will restore coverage to roughly 37,400 legal immigrants – most of which are uninsured and with access to some care through the Health Safety Net program (HSN). All others are in the Commonwealth Care Bridge program, which features fewer benefits and member higher costs than regular Commonwealth Care.
“Commonwealth Care offers far better health care and preventive health care,” stated Reddington-Wilde. “For those immigrants this is a great opportunity to expand their health care.”
Commonwealth Care and CeltiCare Bridge are actively and quickly moving to bring “Aliens with Special Status” back onto Commonwealth Care. “Aliens with Special Status” are a select group of Massachusetts’ immigrants, whom several years ago were on Commonwealth Care until the state couldn’t afford it anymore and switched them into the sub-standard Commonwealth Bridge.
According to Reddington-Wilde, this is also very positive news for immigrants who would have qualified for Bridge but were locked out of it and shunted over to the even more sub-standard HSN.
“What they are currently on [HSN] is not health insurance. There is no access to preventive care and certain services,” stated Reddington-Wilde. “The only option was HSN for emergency coverage. It is the last resort for people who have no other way to access health care once they become sick or injured.”
Despite the Supreme Court’s favorable decision, advocacy groups still have concerns.
“Many immigrants have difficulty with the language; the transition is going to be harder,” explained Denise Moran, a helpline counselor for Health Care for All (HCFA).
With letters being sent in English and very little support material in other languages, there are doubts on whether the message is being delivered quickly enough or whether immigrants will miss the enrollment deadline.
“One of our advocacy concerns is will they [eligible immigrants] realize they have this option. On May 1, their HSN goes away,” explained Reddington-Wilde. “Another concern is will people hear about this and understand what this means for their life and health.”
The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition’s (MIRA) website offers details of the transition in Spanish and HCFA also has information of the transition on their website.
“MIRA has informed its members with blast emails and notices in our widely distributed bulletin about the re-enrollment,” stated Franklin Soults, communications director for MIRA. “We’ve also been discussing it with members in regional meetings, such as our meeting in Brockton. We know that the window is very short for immigrants to re-enroll in a plan of their choosing, but we hope that together with our members and the efforts of the state the majority of those affected will have time to react.”
According to Eva Millona , Executive Director at MIRA, this culminates a two-year fight to restore coverage for immigrants who were shut out of the system after the budget crisis of 2009. It once again brings Massachusetts closer to meeting the noble ideal of providing affordable, quality health care coverage for all its residents.
The state will implement this transition in two phases.
The first phase targets those immigrants on the CeltiCare Bridge program. It started on Monday, Feb. 6, with letters sent to the 13,400 eligible legal immigrants. The letters notified them of their eligibility for Commonwealth Care. The letters were customized to the individual member and included only the plans available in the member’s geographic area and the premiums for each plan. Individuals will have until Feb. 24 to select a Commonwealth Care plan for a March 1 effective date. If Bridge members do not actively select a plan, they will simply be shifted to CeltiCare’s Commonwealth Care plan on March 1.
The second phase is taking place on March 26. The state will begin mailing letters to the 24,000 legal immigrants who are currently either on MassHealth Limited or Health Safety Net (HSN). They must select a plan for a May 1 effective date. If these individuals do not select a plan within 90 days of the date on their letter, they will be terminated from MassHealth Limited and Health Safety Net.
For more information on the transition visit the Health Care for All’s website www.hcfama.org or the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition’s website www.miracoalition.org.
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