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Funds Granted for Health Reform Outreach Sessions - November 16, 2007
PITTSFIELD - The state has released $160,000 in grants locally to help spread information about the state's new health reform law.
All citizens must be insured by the end of the year or face losing their personal income tax exemption.
Berkshire Medical Center and Hilltown Community Health Centers Inc. of Worthington reach received $55,000; Ecu-Health Care received $50,000.
State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, and Reps. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, and Christopher N. Speranzo, D-Pittsfield, announced the awarding on the three MassHealth outreach grants on Thursday. The grants were awarded by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
"These funds are coming at a time when health care enrollment volume is reaching a critical mass," said Downing in a statement. "Our community-based enrollment centers are being inundated with folks who want to do the right thing by educating themselves and complying with the new law. This funding will help our enrollment centers carry-out the monumental task of enrolling the thousands of uninsured residents in Berkshire and Franklin counties.”
Less than two weeks ago, members of the Berkshire delegation and several other Western Mass. legislators complained to the secretary of health and human services and head of the Health Insurance Connector Authority that no information sessions had been scheduled in Berkshire, Franklin or Hampshire counties.
The closest Connect to Health event was scheduled in Chicopee and "is unlikely to attract media coverage or constituents from our districts," they wrote.
Some $3.5 million had been budgeted for outreach and enrollment activities related to health care reform, none of which was being spent in the far western end of the state, they wrote.
Rep. Denis E. Guyer, D-Dalton, one of the signers, said the state was treating Western Mass. more like an afterthought.
The state had set a deadline of Nov. 15 to enroll because of the time it takes to process the paperwork. Plans for an information session in Pittsfield will still under discussion a week before that deadline.
A connector authority spokesman said the funding had been prioritized to serve larger urban areas, particularly those with high populations of working poor and speakers of other languages.
Charles "Chip" Joffee-Halpern, executive director of Ecu-Health Care and a former connector member, said at the time that his nonprofit organization already had "very effective" outreach programs in place. "Historically, we've had more people enrolling in all health plans."
The Office of Medicaid has awarded $2.4 million to date, including the most recent grants, to community-based organizations to identify, educate and enroll individuals who are eligible for MassHealth, Commonwealth Care and Commonwealth Choice health care plans.
The office, in partnership with the Connector Authority, is developing a second round of requests for the remaining $1.1 million. This second round will seek proposals from qualified private and non-profit organizations interested in coordinating a network of groups performing outreach and enrollment activities.
"Outreach is critical right now. The deadline to enroll in a health plan is quickly approaching with so many people left to enroll and so many people filled with questions," said Bosley. "Ecu-Health Care has been an incredible asset in reaching out and guiding those people through the process and through their options."
Joffee-Halpern said, "Ecu-Health Care is thrilled to partner with the state to help implement this most significant health care endeavor."
"This funding for Berkshire Medical Center will help to continue the tremendous work that Berkshire County has done to enroll those uninsured and in need of health care," said Speranzo.
Forty-five organizations, including hospitals and community health centers from across the state will receive grants in amounts ranging from $26,000 to $55,000. A total of 87 organizations applied for funding.
The Western Mass. legislative delegation has been working with outreach specialists at the Commonwealth Connector to plan an outreach and enrollment event in Pittsfield for the morning of Saturday, Dec. 8, from 10 to noon.
Residents who don't have health insurance by Dec. 3 will forfeit their invidual exemption of $219. Beginning in 2008, penalties will increase and will accumulate for each month an individual does not have health insurance.
For more information, attend the session, contact Commonwealth Connector at 1-800-MA-ENROLL or at www.mahealthconnector.org; contact a health carrier directly; or visit an enrollment center near you. |
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