New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Chris Lisinski
State House News Service
More than 33,000 Bay Staters lost MassHealth coverage in June after being dubbed no longer eligible or failing to provide enough documentation, officials said Tuesday.
Since the state kicked off a year-long eligibility review of all 2.4 million members in April, just shy of 69,000 people have been stripped from the MassHealth rolls, according to new data published by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Nearly half of that reduction took place in June, the third month of the process.
In a summary of the latest data, MassHealth officials called the trend “an expected modest increase” after the first two months did not show sizable losses. MassHealth, which combines the state’s Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, also added 15,497 new members in June. Officials described that as a relatively routine monthly increase.
Most of the people kicked from the rolls last month, about 23,000, were between the ages of 21 and 64. Another 5,857 were younger than 20, while 3,937 were 65 or older. Health insurance is required in Massachusetts and people losing MassHealth eligibility must obtain private insurance through their employer or spouse’s employer, secure a plan offered through the Health Connector, or face tax penalties for not being insured.
If the loss was due to not providing enough documentation, oh well. If they were stripped for any other reason, when we hand out so much to illegals, that’s a sin. Disgusted. People making too much money and not qualify is another problem. If they make enough money pay for your insurance like I do, instead of going on trips and buying luxury items.