Amendment #497 to H4100

MassHealth Outreach and Access to Care Grants

Representatives Andrews of Orange, Cariddi of North Adams, Pignatelli of Lenox, Sánchez of Boston, Murphy of Burlington, Provost of Somerville, Sciortino of Medford, Toomey of Cambridge, Fox of Boston, Smizik of Brookline, Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield and Conroy of Wayland move to amend the bill in section 2 by inserting after item 4000-0320 the following item: “4000-0352 for EOHHS Health Care Reform Enrollment, Outreach and Access to Care grants to public and private nonprofit groups to be administered by the executive office in consultation with the Health Care Reform Outreach and Education Unit; provided, that grants shall be awarded to groups statewide, with emphasis in areas and populations in which the division of health care finance and policy has determined a high percentage of uninsured and unenrolled individuals and areas in which there are limited health care providers; provided that the grants shall support efforts by the grantees to provide outreach, enrollment and re-enrollment assistance, education on effective and appropriate use of health care coverage, and coverage retention activities directly to consumers who may be eligible for programs including, but not limited to, MassHealth, the Commonwealth Care Health Insurance Program, the Commonwealth Choice program, Prescription Advantage, the Medical Security Plan, the Children’s Medical Security Plan, Healthy Start, and the Health Safety Net and who may require individualized support due to geography, ethnicity, race, culture, linguistic capacity, age, economic status, immigration status, or disease status; provided that in awarding the grants, the unit shall provide written guidance to selected grantees with specific strategies of how to expend funds in the most efficient manner to target populations and avoid duplication of activities, including examples of best practices among prior year outreach grant recipients; provided that the grants shall support technical assistance that includes informational updates, trainings, and the sharing of best practices for grantee organizations conducting outreach, enrollment assistance, education and coverage retention activities for programs including, but not limited to, MassHealth, the Commonwealth Care Health Insurance Program, the Commonwealth Choice program, Prescription Advantage, the Medical Security Plan, the Children’s Medical Security Plan, Healthy Start, and the Health Safety Net; provided further, that the executive office may fund all or part of the grants through transfers from the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority or other authorities of the Commonwealth, federal or foundation grant funds, donated funds or other sources;

and provided further, that the secretary shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means on the exact amounts distributed in fiscal year 2013, and the extent to which any portion of resulting expenditures are eligible for federal reimbursement .................................. 2,500,000”