Browse by Topic: Delivery System/Safety Net

Overview of the Senate Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017

This chart pack provides an overview of the Senate-proposed Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, highlighting some of its key provisions, particularly as they relate to Medicaid. Developed by Manatt Health, this chart pack was commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation for the Massachusetts Coalition for Coverage and Care.

The Importance of CHIP Reauthorization for Massachusetts

This report describes the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Massachusetts and its role as part of MassHealth. Though there is no expiration date for CHIP in federal law, Congress has authorized funding of the program through September 30, 2017. Without Congressional action, a majority of states, including Massachusetts, will exhaust their current federal CHIP allocation by March 2018. This report discusses the importance of CHIP and the broader health policy debate, including reauthorization, now taking place in Washington.

The MassHealth Waiver 2016–2022: Delivering Reform

This issue brief describes the key elements of the most recent MassHealth 1115 waiver extension, including the shift to a delivery system centered on Accountable Care Organizations and Community Partners, a Delivery System Reform Incentive Program, the redesigned Safety Net Care Pool, and the expansion of services for treatment of substance use disorders. It concludes with a discussion of implications of the new system for major stakeholder groups.

Fostering Effective Integration of Behavioral Health and Primary Care in Massachusetts, Year One Report

This report includes findings from the evaluation of the 2015 Fostering Effective Integration grant program. The goals of the evaluation were to determine 1) how grantees defined “success” for their integration efforts, 2) grantee perceptions of the critical components of effective integration programs, 3) common barriers to integration, and 4) measures grantees used to assess programs.

Coordinating Care for Patients with Alcohol or Drug Use Disorders: Effective Practices and Common Barriers in Three Centers

In recent years, integrating treatment for mental health and substance use disorders (SUD) with primary care has been the subject of extensive research testing a number of different integration models and specific interventions. While many of these approaches have shown promise in demonstrations or clinical trials, the true test of value is in real-world settings where there are competing demands on scarce resources, strict fidelity to intervention protocols is difficult, and patients have multiple urgent needs.

UPDATED MassHealth: The Basics (June 2016)

UPDATED (June 2016) chart pack produced by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI), a program of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Health Law and Economics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This updated edition includes MassHealth enrollment as of January 2016 and spending from state fiscal year 2015 and is made available in PDF and Power Point formats to facilitate its use in presentations.

Health Care and Social Service Spending and Outcomes: How Does Massachusetts Compare with Other States?

International comparisons of industrialized countries show that those with a higher ratio of social service spending relative to health care spending have better health outcomes. This finding is consistent with decades of research underscoring the importance of social, behavioral, and environmental factors on health outcomes.

Massachusetts Long-Term Services and Supports: Achieving a New Vision for MassHealth

This report, prepared by Manatt Health, lays out a vision for MassHealth long-term services and supports (LTSS) that is person-centered, integrated, sustainable, accountable, and actionable, providing Massachusetts policymakers with a set of options to consider when tackling some of the most intractable challenges facing the Commonwealth’s LTSS system.

10 Years of Impact: A Literature Review of Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006

Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006—“An Act Providing Access To Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care”—was signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney on April 12, 2006. The groundbreaking law sought near-universal health care coverage for the residents of Massachusetts by expanding Medicaid, creating a new program of subsidized insurance, enacting changes to the health insurance market, and requiring adults to have health insurance unless an affordable option was not available.

Sharing Behavioral Health Information in Massachusetts: Obstacles and Potential Solutions

This report, prepared by Robert Belfort and Alex Dworkowitz of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, provides a review of the primary Massachusetts and federal privacy laws relevant to the exchange of information among physical and behavioral health providers and an assessment of technological and operational challenges faced by providers seeking to integrate care through enhanced data exchange.

The Remaining Uninsured in Massachusetts: Experiences of Individuals Living without Health Insurance Coverage

Although Massachusetts has successfully achieved the lowest rate of uninsurance in the nation, thousands of individuals and families still live with the potential adverse health effects and financial impacts of not having health insurance. In 2015, an estimated 200,000 individuals in Massachusetts did not have health insurance coverage.