Grant Partners

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, which serves a community with a high rate of uninsurance, will provide screening, education, enrollment, and post-enrollment services for patients and community residents, including information on how to maintain insurance coverage. It will also attend community events and partner with the Immigrant Assistance Center to inform individuals about the insurance application process and to answer questions about public charge.

Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, which serves a community with a high rate of uninsurance, will provide screening, education, enrollment, and post-enrollment services for patients and community residents, including information on how to maintain insurance coverage. It will also attend community events and partner with the Immigrant Assistance Center to inform individuals about the insurance application process and to answer questions about public charge. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients, patients, and staff.

Caring Health Center, which serves a community with a high rate of uninsurance, will provide culturally competent insurance enrollment assistance and education to patients, including insurance eligibility, applications, enrollment, policies, subsidies and tax credits, plan selection, and assistance in maintaining coverage. Caring Health Center will increase health insurance literacy through culturally and linguistically appropriate one-on-one, group education, and community outreach, including to programs serving jobseekers, unemployed persons, students, and community members who need support outside of the health center. It will also implement extensive media and grassroots community outreach campaigns.

Ecu-Health Care will support clients in accessing and maintaining health insurance coverage through one-on-one education and outreach in partnership with local community organizations.  It will also participate in a variety of outreach activities to build awareness of its services and to provide coverage information to consumers. It will disseminate information about coverage through social media, flyers, and brochures throughout the community, and will proactively outreach to uninsured Berkshire Medical Center patients to provide insurance enrollment support. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients and staff.

Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) will organize transgender people with disabilities in Massachusetts and outreach to people of color who are deaf or hard of hearing regarding racial bias within their service community. Additionally, DPC will continue to advocate for changes to the state building codes to increase accessibility for people with disabilities accessing various locations, particularly in relation to housing access.   DPC's key focus is to continue to advocate for nursing home policies: overhaul infection control standards, end double-occupancy rooms, and develop new tools to help people transition back to the community. DPC will continue its involvement with the Disability Advocates Advancing our Healthcare Rights Coalition, focusing on social determinants of health.

Family Health Center of Worcester will focus insurance outreach and enrollment efforts towards refugee, immigrant, and asylee populations through targeted clinics and community events with an emphasis on dispelling misinformation, myths, and fears related to public charge. It will proactively outreach to patients who are newly uninsured as a result of a change in life circumstances and will hold new patient education sessions monthly in languages other than English. Family Health Center of Worcester will also conduct ongoing reviews of information collected from Health Insurance Literacy surveys and provide group learning opportunities for its navigators to identify and address themes and content for staff training. 

Caring Health Center, which serves a community with a high rate of uninsurance, will provide culturally competent insurance enrollment assistance and education to patients, including insurance eligibility, applications, enrollment, policies, subsidies and tax credits, plan selection, and assistance in maintaining coverage. Caring Health Center will increase health insurance literacy through culturally and linguistically appropriate education and community outreach, including to programs serving jobseekers, unemployed persons, students, and community members who need support outside of the health center. It will also implement extensive media and grassroots community outreach campaigns. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients, patients, and staff.

Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) will focus on expanding the number of mental health professionals participating in MassHealth and commercial insurance, ensuring continued access to telehealth, and working with partners to advise policymakers on comprehensive parity implementation. It will continue to lead the Children’s Mental Health Campaign’s efforts to promote an effective pediatric behavioral health urgent care system. Additionally, MAMH will continue to work with the Community Behavioral Health Promotion and Prevention Commission to promote early intervention and the integration of behavioral health and pediatric primary care, and mental health education in schools to increase awareness, resiliency, and help-seeking behaviors. Additionally, MBMH will continue to support efforts to address disparities in the justice system and ensure that police reform includes meaningful efforts to support people with mental health conditions more effectively.

The Dimock Center will utilize its practice management system to run registries of individuals who might be at risk of losing their coverage based on insurance transitions; lead workshops and information sessions at the health center and with community partner agencies to educate patients on how to apply for, enroll in, and maintain health coverage; notify patients within four to six weeks of application to ensured they received their coverage confirmation letter, remind them of any expiration or renewal dates, and confirm next steps to ensure coverage is maintained; set up alerts in the electronic health record to notify staff of coverage expiration dates a few weeks prior to flag patients that need help with renewal applications.

Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) will focus on community health integration and improving the built environment. MPHA will work with the Alliance for Community Health Integration to ensure that social determinants of health are adequately addressed, in particular through community investments, support for ACOs from MassHealth, and health care institutions’ internal policies.

The Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) will work to improve access to behavioral health services and health-related social services for individuals with behavioral health conditions. MAMH will analyze policies and evidence-based programs related to health, including supportive housing subsidies and criminal justice reform, and will disseminate their findings through reports and through their activities as a convener and coalition leader. MAMH will also work to expand their capacity for data collection, measurement, and reporting.

Brockton Neighborhood Health Center will partner with community organizations; help patients update account information, make payments and understand communications from the MassHealth and the Connector; reach out to patients via phone or mail to ensure they understand changes and take steps to maintain coverage; and work closely with patients through individual education and coaching to address post-enrollment issues like selecting a health plan, choosing a primary care provider, and making payments online.

Family Health Center of Worcester will conduct outreach with partner agencies; advertise Navigator services in local media; review all eligibility determination letters received from MassHealth and the Connector, proactively contacting patients who were denied or lost coverage, and assist them in completing the application or re-applying; use multilingual call center software to send auto reminders and targeted messages to patients with impending deadlines; provide group information sessions at agencies that serve target population; and host monthly orientations for new patients to help them understand how to navigate services at the health center.

Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee will leverage partnerships with local community organizations; staff tables at cultural festivals, community fairs, faith-based organizations, and housing developments; disseminate flyers, door hangers, and utilize social media; provide education on the payment system through the Health Connector; provide post-enrollment assistance by educating about choosing a plan, making appointments, how to read medical bills, and questioning charges; and offer financial coaching in light of addressing premium payments. 

Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) will connect disability advocacy communities across the state and amplify the voices of these groups in conversations with state and federal policymakers. In so doing, DPC seeks to re-frame disability as a social rather than medical condition and to shift the focus within disability-related health care from payment to ethics. DPC will serve as a hub for cross-disability advocacy through community-based participatory action research, their co-leadership of DAAHR, and an expanded social media presence.