I am not aware of any statistics about how many elders or persons with disabilities will be immediately affected; however, the Legislature has bound itself to pay for coverage.
Sometime after the legislation is signed into law, MassHealth will issue emergency regulations begin reviewing files and redetermining rights to income and assets for the affected parties. These regulations have been quietly in the works for some time, but the agency could not issue them until the Legislature gave the go-ahead.
Please share widely!
please keep us updated as the regulations are revised, and thanks for informing of this development. what was the bill number?
Thanks for posting about this. A very important development. I hope you’ll post more as it progresses.
More information from Someone Who Knows More Than Me about the backroom politics. The Gov will probably sign the bill. However, MassHealth is nervous about all of this because they are afraid that the Bushies might cut off all federal funding for the Medicaid program if the state goes ahead and grants these rights to SS marrieds.
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p>FWIW — Vermont extended the right to SS couples in civil union more than a year ago. The state segregated the funding and has been using state funds to cover costs for SS couples. I’ve heard NOTHING from my elder law colleagues indicating that the VT Medicaid program has been been jeopardized in any way.