MassHealth 1115 Amendments Approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
On April 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved Massachusetts’s request to amend the MassHealth Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plan Section 1115 Demonstration. This approval recognizes shelter as a health-related social need and allows MassHealth to spend federal money on shelter and other assistance for MassHealth families experiencing homelessness in the Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter program. This policy change will bring significant federal money into the EA shelter system which can be used for shelter costs and supportive health-related services for MassHealth members.
Last November, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Greater Boston Legal Services, Health Care For All, and the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action coordinated a letter where 111 organizations joined to urge CMS to approve this request. As the letter stated, “Temporary housing assistance will improve health access and health outcomes, and reduce overall health costs.”