What's new at MLS

1. FY 2025 Budget On May 7, the Senate Ways & Means Committee released its budget bill. MLRI's preliminary summary of the budget is posted here. We're happy to report that SWM, like the House, rejects the Governor's proposal to cut the PCA program.    Amendments are due…

On May 6, 2024, Steward Health Care System LLC and 166 of its affiliated debtors  each filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Steward website directs people to this website with more…

FY 2025 Budget The Senate Ways & Means budget for FY 2025 is due out next Tuesday. One important issue affecting MassHealth is whether the Senate will agree with the House to block the cuts to the PCA program proposed by the Governor. Our friends at 1199 SEIU have set up a website with…

Health Care Working Group Meeting Wed April 24 3-4:30 pm The zoom link should be in your calendars. At this month’s meeting we’ve invited  the consultants working with MassHealth  on development of a  new Member Advisory Committee (MAC) to discuss the work…

Great news! CMS approved the amendments to the 1115 Demonstration today!    EOHHS's press release is here listing some of the key changes.   Changes include 90 days of pre-release services for MassHealth members who are incarcerated (MA will be the 4th state…

Health Update April 18, 2024   FY 2025 Budget Update   Next week the House will take up amendments to the HWM budget. Among the 1495 amendments filed last week, we wanted to bring four health-related amendments to your attention:    1. Amendment…

Hello all, and happy spring! A few language access-related updates and opportunities:    MassHealth Language Access Plan- Updated MassHealth updates its language access plan every two years. On March 28, they published their updated Language Access Plan for Jan 2024-Dec…

FY 2025 Budget On April 10, 2024 the House Ways & Means Committee released its FY 25 budget. The big news for MassHealth members is that the HWM Committee listened to the voices of people with disabilities and service providers and rejected the Governor’s proposal to save $114 million in the…

1. Independent Assessment Entity. At last month's Health Care Working Group meeting we discussed MassHealth's RFR to contract with a single entity to make assessments and determine eligibility for PCA services (including PCA services provided via One Care), Adult Day Health, Day Hab,…

We look forward to seeing you at our March Health Care Working Group meeting tomorrow, (Wed) 3-4:30pm. Scroll down for zoom information, which should also be in your calendar.    Meeting agenda:  1. Proposed PCA cuts  2. Independent Assessment Entity (IAE) for…