2022 FPL in MassHealth & Mar 17 Info Session on Broadband Discounts

 

MassHealth updates its income standards with the current year's poverty level on March 1. This is a link to the MassHealth 2022 Desk Guide which shows the upper income levels for MassHealth and Medicare Savings Programs as monthly and yearly figures https://www.mass.gov/doc/2022-masshealth-income-standards-and-federal-poverty-guidelines-0/download

 

Attached is the updated version of MLRI's upper income table based on the 2022 Desk Guide. It adds the standard $20 deduction to the non-MAGI upper income limit, and the standard 5% FPL deduction to the MAGI upper income levels and shows monthly and weekly figures. It also includes the upper income levels for ConnectorCare which are still based on the 2021 federal poverty level for 2022 coverage, and the upper income limit used in PACE and most of the HCBS waivers which is not based on the poverty level and is updated on Jan. 1.

 

Rounding. The MassHealth Desk Guide shows the MAGI-based upper income levels rounded up to the next dollar but we recently learned the actual figures are not rounded in this way. The 2022 Desk Guide notes "The figures are rounded and may not reflect figures used in program determinations."  We have not yet been able to obtain the actual figures from MassHealth, but when we do, we'll be issuing a revised version of our Table. Meanwhile, be aware that the MAGI monthly figures may be $1-2 dollars higher than the actual figures used. Why does MassHealth use two different rounding methods and why doesn't it publish the actual income standards it uses? If you have an answer to that one, let us know!

 

 

 

We all know how important digital access has been during the Public Health Emergency for telehealth visits, working and attending school remotely, applying for benefits, and many other purposes. Many of us were familiar with the Lifeline program and clients and patients with "Obama phones" and some of us may have known about a more generous, but temporary, emergency broad band benefit called EBB. The Affordable Connectivity Program is a permanent program that will replace EBB and supplement Lifeline. Learn more about ACP, and how to help your clients and patients bridge the digital divide, and let advocates know about any difficulties your clients an patients are having with ACP or the transition from EBB