Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 and MassHealth Redeterminations

Background:

In March of 2020, a Public Health Emergency (PHE) was declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the PHE and consistent with federal continuous coverage requirements, MassHealth put protections into place to prevent members’ MassHealth coverage from ending during the COVID-19 emergency.

These protections are ending in April 2023. This means that hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents may lose their MassHealth coverage through a redetermination process that will begin on April 1, 2023, and continue through April 2024.

Massachusetts requires everyone to have health insurance or face a tax penalty. MassHealth member’s losing MassHealth coverage, will need to find alternative health coverage within 60 days of the loss of coverage date.

HSA Insurance can help in the following ways:

Brokers

• Your Account Executive or our Broker Relations Team are available to answer questions you may have about the PHE redetermination process.
• We have prepared a letter template for you to share with your group clients. This letter explains the process and timeline and outlines available options to employer groups as they assist their employees who lose MassHealth coverage.
• MassHealth members who lose their coverage will have a qualifying event to enroll in alternate coverage within 60 days.

Employer Groups

• If you have a small group plan with HSA Insurance and would like to add an employee who has lost MassHealth coverage, we can help.
• If you do not currently offer health coverage and would like to begin to offer coverage, HSA Insurance has licensed benefits consultants on staff who would be happy to assist you in finding the best plan for you and your employees.
• If the best coverage option for your employee is an individual plan, we offer many choices from most Massachusetts carriers.
• If the best coverage option for your employee is an individual plan and they may qualify for help paying for coverage,
  • We can assist them with getting an estimate to determine if they may qualify for financial assistance, or
  • If they would prefer to check on their own, they can visit the MA Health Connector site at https://betterhealthconnector.com/get-an-estimate

Individuals

• Speak to your employer about being added to your employer’s plan. If your employer offers health insurance coverage, you may be eligible to enroll.
• If you are unemployed, your employer does not offer coverage, or if you are not eligible to enroll in your employer’s plan, you can enroll in individual coverage through
• Depending on your income you may qualify for help paying for coverage.
  • We can assist you in determining if you are likely to receive financial assistance.
• If you would prefer to check on your own, you can visit the MA Health Connector site at
• If you determine that you do not qualify for financial aid, you can enroll through HSA Insurance. We offer many plan choices, and our service is unparalleled.

Additional information is available on the mass.gov website at https://www.mass.gov/masshealth-eligibility-redeterminations.