Grant Partners

Health Law Advocates (HLA) will work to advocate for public policy reforms that help consumers access necessary health care. Key focus areas in the coming year include: continuing to lead the effort to improve access to mental health services for children through the continued expansion of the Mental Health Advocacy Program for Kids, which provides free legal assistance to help low-income, high-risk youth to overcome barriers to mental health services; closing the gap in coverage for in-home health services, such as skilled nursing and non-emergency transportation that harms many immigrants enrolled in MassHealth Family Assistance; and building on the progress made reducing MassHealth’s longstanding difficulty assigning immigrants to the maximum benefits for which they are eligible.  Additionally, HLA will continue to improve access to gender-affirming health care for low-income transgender consumers.

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) will provide legal expertise to coalitions and organizations that maintain and improve health care coverage for economically marginalized Massachusetts residents.  A key focus will be identifying Medicaid policy flexibilities that should be made permanent when we transition out of the COVID-19 moratorium period. Also, MLRI will ensure that the MassHealth eligibility rules and utilization controls for accessing Long Term Services and Supports and other services for people with disabilities are lawful, and that people with disabilities have information about their treatment options and can access the services they need.  MLRI will continue to improve the current eligibility systems, forms, notices, verification procedures, and data systems that are used to determine eligibility for MassHealth so that eligible beneficiaries can obtain timely decisions and avoid losing benefits for procedural reasons. In addition, MLRI will educate MassHealth beneficiaries to obtain information about their choices for delivery of care, know their rights about participating in care decisions, and understand how to seek recourse through the grievance and administrative hearing decisions.

Health Law Advocates (HLA) will focus on improving health care access for vulnerable populations by providing direct legal services and advocating to state policymakers. Their direct legal service work will inform community outreach efforts, education programs, policy analyses, and legislative proposals. In their advocacy work, HLA will pay particular attention to children with disabilities, immigrants, and transgender individuals, and to issues related to behavioral health care access. Additionally, they will defend MassHealth members against federal Medicaid changes and ensure access to services for ACO-enrolled MassHealth members.

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.

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) will provide legal expertise to coalitions and organizations that maintain and improve health care coverage for low-income Massachusetts residents. MLRI will conduct policy research and analyses to help Massachusetts-based and national partners understand how federal regulations may impact coverage. Additionally, MLRI will advocate for ways to reduce churn among MassHealth beneficiaries and will work to ensure that MassHealth members know their rights as consumers.