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The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, in partnership with Manatt Health, today released Faces of MassHealth: Coverage Across the Commonwealth, a new version of a report that combines enrollment data for MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, with personal stories developed by Health Care For All (HCFA), and Ecu-Health Care. The report better illustrates how central the program is in caring for more than one in four Massachusetts residents.

“MassHealth is at an inflection point,” said Audrey Shelto, president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. “A new federal law will soon make deep eligibility and financing cuts to the program, and Massachusetts policymakers will need to make difficult health care coverage and funding decisions in light of those changes. Given this context, it is more important than ever to fully understand who MassHealth members are and to hear from them about the role MassHealth plays in their lives.”

The report updates the Foundation’s 2019 Faces of MassHealth project by combining the analysis of aggregate MassHealth enrollment data as of June 2024 with profiles gathered by community partners.

The report describes Lisa, a woman who relied on MassHealth while unemployed during a move back to Massachusetts and was able to later transition to employer coverage. Other stories include a former school bus driver who had to leave her job to care for her son with autism; working parents who used MassHealth to cover out-of-pocket costs during a high-risk pregnancy; a retired couple struggling to afford their Medicare premiums until MassHealth’s Medicare Savings Program eased the cost; and a retired man with cancer who, when his employer subsidy ended, was able to qualify for MassHealth and continue seeing his full team of doctors.

The data highlights both the scale of MassHealth and the diverse needs of the people it covers. It demonstrates that:

• Nearly three in four members have household incomes below the federal poverty level;
• Children under age 19, adults age 65 or older, and people with disabilities together account for close to 60% of enrollment;
• MassHealth is a significant coverage source for residents across all counties in Massachusetts with enrollment rates ranging from 18% to 42% of residents by county;
• Women account for more than half of all adults and nearly two-thirds of adults age 65 or older enrolled;
• While most MassHealth members speak English as their primary language, over one in four members report a language other than English as their primary spoken language; and
• MassHealth often supplements insurance coverage from other sources, including Medicare. Over one in five members are enrolled in other coverage, and they use MassHealth to cover out of pocket costs or to access services that are not covered by their other insurance.

The report, titled Faces of MassHealth: Coverage Across the Commonwealth, can be accessed at the following link: https://www.bluecrossmafoundation.org/publication/faces-masshealth-coverage-across-commonwealth

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to ensure equitable access to health care for all those in the Commonwealth who are economically, racially, culturally or socially marginalized. The Foundation was established in 2001 with an endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors. For more information, visit www.bluecrossmafoundation.org.
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