Health Announce: Nov. 19, 2024

11/20/24

Good Evening!

With the upcoming holiday and shortened work week, Health Announce is taking next week off.  Across our beautifully diverse communities, some people celebrate Thanksgiving, and others don’t.  Whichever group you find yourself in, everyone eats!  And there are delicious food traditions to explore from cultures around the world that observe celebrations in hopes of abundance.

Topics for this week’s Health Announce:

  1. Reminder – no Health Care Workgroup (HCWG) this month, but lots to discuss at the December 11 HCWG.

  2. New Health Connector eligibility for DACA recipients – MTC update.

  3. Upcoming webinar from the MHA Anchoring Equity series – Housing is Healthcare: Housing Policy Overview.

  4. Have we mentioned the election?

Be well,

Jennifer Hotchkiss Kaplan

Senior Health Law Attorney

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Reminder – no Health Care Workgroup (HCWG) this month, but lots to discuss at the December 11 HCWG.

Our the next HCWG meeting is on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, at 3pm.  On the agenda is a discussion of strategies for defending against potential budget cuts, at both the state and federal level.  Advocates can share past experience and successful strategies, as well as brainstorm new plans of action.  If you have any additional topics or issues you’d like to put on the agenda, please let me (jkaplan@mlri.org) or Kate (ksymmonds@mlri.org) know.

New Health Connector eligibility for DACA recipients – MTC update.

Beginning on November 1, 2024, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients have been considered lawfully present for purposes of the Health Connector.  DACA recipients up to 300% of FPL are eligible for MassHealth Family Assistance.  DACA recipients above 300% FPL are now eligible for coverage through the Health Connector – but a workaround is necessary in the eligibility determination. The Massachusetts Health Care Training Forum (MTF) has posted an explanation of the high-level daily workaround process used by the Health Connector for new applications submitted with DACA status.

The long and short of it is: online DACA applicants will first get a result stating “Not Eligible,” but after the Health Connector runs an overnight process, a correct determination of eligibility will be performed.  For DACA recipients who meet the FPL requirements, they will later receive an approval notice from the Health Connector. 

Upcoming webinar from the MHA Anchoring Equity series – Housing is Healthcare: Housing Policy Overview.

On December 12, 2024 from 2:00 pm to 3 pm, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association (MHA) continues its Anchoring Equity series with an online discussion called “Housing is Healthcare: Housing Policy Overview.”  The program will include a discussion of the Massachusetts Healthy Homes Program and share information about statewide resources and support for people struggling with housing instability. Information and registration can be found here.

Have we mentioned the election?

No, we had not ... yet.  It’s been almost exactly two weeks since we learned the outcome of the latest election for the office of President, as well as (now) both houses of Congress.  While there is a lot of uncertainty about what exactly will happen in the health law space and on what timeline, we can be certain that changes are coming and many of them will have strong, negative impacts on the individuals and the communities we work with and serve.

So what can we do? In these last weeks of the current Congress and Administration, we can start preparing for the advocacy that will certainly be necessary soon.  Below are some ideas.  Moving forward, Health Announce is committed to sharing information and opportunities for advocacy as they arise.

Strategize:

Look for webinars and gatherings of advocates dedicated to protecting and preserving health care access.  For example, this Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 2:30 pm, the Network for Public Health Law is hosting a webinar, “Navigating Public Health and Democracy After the Election,” to discuss what to expect in 2025.  Importantly, this webinar also provides an opportunity to connect with a national community dedicated to protecting and promoting public health. Register here.

Additionally, advocates across the country are contributing to the conversation through articles and blogs covering what might be coming and how to respond.  Justice in Aging has posted about “Four Areas Where Older Adults Need our Advocacy in 2025.” Edwin Park from the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Children and Families wrote about coming threats to Medicaid in “Congressional Republican Leaders Start to Show Their Hand: Draconian Medicaid Cuts on the Agenda for Next Year.”

Gather the Stories: 

Despite the results of the presidential election, polling consistently shows low voter support for the proposed policies of the incoming administration.  One way to effectively counter destructive proposals is to elevate the stories of people with lived experience who will be impacted. Individual stories interrupt negative or inaccurate narratives and center the real people who will suffer due to ill-advised government action.  Some good resources include A Guide to Monitoring Medicaid Using Lived Experience and Qualitative Research Practice Guide.