This budget brief highlights the state fiscal year (SFY) 2021 budget – which ran from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 – for MassHealth and other health reform programs. The SFY21 budget was delayed by six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic challenges and fiscal uncertainty. Included within the budget was $18.9 billion designated for health care coverage programs and related operational expenses.

This five-part series of issue briefs describes MassHealth’s impact on the health and finances of its members, families, and communities, as well as on the wide variety of stakeholders and sectors outside of the traditional health care realm that benefit from the program, including:

This report describes the results of a qualitative analysis of the MassHealth Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program over its first two years of operation. The Foundation commissioned this report to provide timely insight into what is working well, challenges stakeholders are facing, and opportunities to strengthen the program.

Of the more than 1.8 million people enrolled in MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, one in five are dually eligible and receive health care coverage through two distinct payers – Medicare and MassHealth. This educational primer was developed to build a deeper understanding of the dual eligible population in Massachusetts. It illustrates the diversity of dual eligible individuals’ clinical and functional needs, service utilization, and spending patterns.