MassHealth Members Need to Renew Coverage

If you’re a member of MassHealth, you may need to show you still qualify for the assistance. You may have heard about this. It’s called MassHealth Redetermination. The process runs until April 2024.

During the COVID health emergency, federal rules allowed Medicaid recipients in Massachusetts and other states to keep their benefits indefinitely, even if their income increased.

In Massachusetts, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are combined into one program called MassHealth.

When the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ended last spring, so did the federal rules. For MassHealth recipients across the state, that means re-determining eligibility status to continue receiving health benefits based on income and other factors.

It’s believed about 300,000 Massachusetts residents could lose their health insurance coverage with the reopening of the annual review of MassHealth eligibility.

MassHealth members get their renewal forms in the mail. Renewals occur at the household level and are sent to the Head of Household. Some members may be automatically renewed. This means that MassHealth will automatically process a member’s renewal by matching their information against state and federal data. In this case, MassHealth does not need any new information and no action is needed.

If MassHealth does NOT have enough information to automatically renew a member, members will need to report new information. They will get a renewal form in a blue envelope. If members do not reply, their coverage may end.

You can find more information online at https://masshealthrenew.org/

All members can call MassHealth at (800) 841-2900 (TDD/TTY: 711) to update their contact information. This will not change their health coverage.

There are public Redetermination Community Visits across the state for older adults. You can find out more information in person at these events:

Wednesday, December 6, 2023, 11:00AM-3:00PM
Hosted by Barnstable Adult Community Center at 825 Falmouth Road, Hyannis

Thursday, December 28, 2023, 9:30AM-1:30PM
Hosted by AgeSpan at 280 Merrimack Street, Suite 400, Lawrence
To sign up call: 978-296-4299

Monday, January 9, 2024, 10:00AM-3:00PM
Hosted by Brockton Council on Aging at 1 Feinberg Way, Brockton

State law requires everyone to have health insurance. People who are no longer eligible for MassHealth will need to enroll in an employer-sponsored plan or through a plan offered on the Massachusetts Health Connector marketplace.