Directs the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy (DHCFP) to analyze the impact of existing mandated insurance benefits on public health and overall health care costs and issue a report to the legislature at least once every 4 years. DHCFP must consult with the Department of Public Health and UMass Medical School to ensure that all mandated benefits continue to meet clinical standards of care. DHCFP may file legislation to amend or repeal existing mandates.

Emergency Preamble to allow law to take effect immediately

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to 11 health care organizations to support programs that improve access to behavioral health urgent care and address key social determinants of health including housing and food insecurity.

The Foundation provided a total of $1.2 million to six organizations through its Expanding Access to Behavioral Health Urgent Care grant program, which builds upon the state’s existing Emergency Services Program (ESP) system and expands the recipient organizations’ ability to provide community-based behavioral health urgent care.  The three-year program, renewable annually, grants $200,000 to the following organizations:

• Bay Cove Human Services, the sole provider of emergency behavioral health services on Cape Cod. The organization plans to provide follow-up services for up to 14 days post-crisis episode; increase awareness of services to individuals with behavioral health challenges along with providers and policy officers; and launch a “No Wrong Door” initiative to assist individuals with substance use disorder to gain access to treatment in a timely way.
• Boston Medical Center, the largest ESP in Massachusetts. BMC aims to improve the delivery of high-quality, culturally competent care through its Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST) model.  It seeks to strengthen the rapid assessment and treatment of individuals while providing referrals and access to appropriate services in the least restrictive environment, promoting safety and recovery, and providing medical support and triage to divert people from the emergency department and inpatient psychiatric units.
• The Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, a Pittsfield-based provider of round-the-clock crisis assessment, intervention and stabilization services to anyone experiencing a behavioral health crisis in Berkshire County. The organization will use the grant to increase community-based locations with behavioral health urgent care and expand their operating hours.  It will also coordinate with Berkshire Health System, Berkshire House of Correction and ServiceNet to create an additional walk-in site at a former city jail.
• Clinical & Support Options Inc., a Northampton-based ESP serving Franklin County, Hampshire County and the North Quabbin area of Worcester County. The grant will increase its ability to provide an integrated behavioral health system that connects individuals to the service that meets their needs as soon as possible.  It will also continue its Greenfield Living Room peer support diversion program, and grow partnerships with other local organizations, state human services agencies and police departments.
• Community Healthlink in Worcester, one of only three state-licensed behavioral health urgent care centers and affiliated with the UMass Memorial Health Care System. The organization will initiate a process to provide clients with access to same-day/next-day medication assisted treatment, and hire case managers to provide follow-up services to clients, among other initiatives.
• Lahey Health Behavioral Services, which provides rapid assessment and immediate crisis stabilization services to people in need in Greater Lowell from a facility at Lowell General Hospital. With its grant, the organization will continue a pilot program to introduce telemedicine for psychiatric prescribing and consultation to its Urgent Care Clinic.  It also will focus on initiating medication-assisted treatment via telepsychiatry.

“The Foundation’s vision for behavioral health urgent care is to expand the existing capacity in the Commonwealth’s system by supporting more seamless, comprehensive and effective care for the greatest number of adults with mental health, substance use and co-occurring needs,” said Audrey Shelto, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.  “The grantees made great progress during their planning year in 2019 and we see great potential ahead as we continue to support their initiatives through this new grant program.”

Another group of grants, Going Beyond Health Care: Addressing Social Determinants Through a Cross-Sector Approach, is aimed at increasing collaboration between health care organizations and social services agencies.  Building on an initial planning year, the Foundation awarded a total of $225,000 to three organizations addressing issues related to health and housing, and a third organization focusing on food insecurity and health.  The grantees receiving $75,000 each are:

• Metro Housing Boston, which provides innovative and personalized services that help individuals and families achieve housing stability, economic self-sufficiency, and improved quality of life. The grant will help the organization serve patients of Boston Medical Center who face imminent homelessness, eviction or foreclosure.  It will also pilot new software that will enable electronic referrals to Metro Housing and integrate the data into BMC’s electronic health record system.
• Project Bread – The Walk for Hunger, a statewide food security organization dedicated to combating hunger and promoting positive health outcomes. The organization’s project will address the issue of food insecurity by using Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) resources to increase the consumption of healthy foods among the patients of Family Health Center of Worcester.  The project will establish a formal referral system for patients who screen positive for food insecurity by building off the protocol of Community Care Cooperative (C3), a MassHealth ACO.
• The Community Builders, a nonprofit real estate developer that builds affordable housing for families and seniors. The organization will use the grant to incorporate trauma-informed approaches into housing by changing policies and practices that may be inadvertently exacerbating residents’ stress and trauma.  The grant also will support the engagement of “Health Champions” to support community residents in accessing mental health care through the Family Health Center of Worcester and Worcester Addresses Childhood Trauma (Worcester ACTs).

 The Foundation also awarded two Special Initiatives grants for a total of $78,000.  Special Initiatives grants provide one-time, non-renewable support of up to $50,000 for a 12-month period.  These grants support innovative pilots and demonstration projects in Massachusetts that expand access to health care for low-income consumers, align with the Foundation’s strategic focus areas, and complement the objectives of the Foundation’s other funding, including synergies between grantmaking and policy initiatives.

 About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

 The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families in the Commonwealth.  The Foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.  It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation – together with funding partners MetroWest Health Foundation and the C.F. Adams Charitable Trust – today announced the launch of Network of Care Massachusetts, a comprehensive online resource to help anyone find behavioral health resources and treatment in their community.

About 1 in 5 people in Massachusetts have a mental health or substance use condition, and although these conditions are prevalent, many people struggle to find the services and supports they need.  The Network of Care Massachusetts website (massachusetts.networkofcare.org) helps consumers and caregivers navigate a complex system by providing information about varied behavioral health resources.  It features an extensive library of health information and a directory of 5,000 mental health, substance use and related social service agencies and programs from Boston to the Berkshires.

“Massachusetts is home to hundreds of programs that deliver high-quality behavioral health and social services, and Network of Care Massachusetts will allow us to provide information about these services in one place that is publicly available to all who need it,” said Audrey Shelto, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.

The Foundation received a special three-year investment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to support this initiative, and together the three funding partners chose the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health to manage the build and customization of Network of Care Massachusetts.  The project was developed through a comprehensive stakeholder process across the public and private sectors, in close coordination with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services and state agencies.

Consumers and professionals can use the tool to search for resources based on a specific need or condition – such as depression, alcoholism, food or housing – or by the service they are looking for, such as emergency mental health services, alcohol detox, food pantries or rental assistance.  Users can narrow their search by ZIP code to find the services closest to them.

“This is a terrific new resource for individuals and families seeking help with a range of behavioral health challenges,” said Bruce Bird, president and CEO of Vinfen, a nonprofit, community-based provider of comprehensive services for adolescents and adults with mental health conditions and disabilities.  “It will also be extremely useful to our staff who often struggle to find the right resources for people who reach out to us for services which are not provided by Vinfen or are provided in a different part of the state.”

Network of Care is a national web platform operated by Trilogy Integrated Resources, LLC, a San Rafael, Calif.-based organization that has successfully implemented human service online networks in more than 500 sites in 26 states.

“This one-stop, accessible online tool ensures there is ‘no wrong door’ to a search for accurate information about the behavioral health service system and state agency benefits in Massachusetts,” said Danna Mauch, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health.  “Whether you are an individual, family member or care coordinator, our overall goal is to increase access points for anyone seeking care and taking the first step to navigate the care system.”

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families in the Commonwealth.  The Foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.  It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation has awarded grants to three organizations to support new programs that address gaps in the behavioral health care system as it faces greater pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to its major grantmaking programs, the Foundation regularly awards Special Initiatives grants to support promising pilots and demonstration projects in Massachusetts that expand access to health care for low-income residents.  The Board of Directors recently approved one-year, $50,000 grants to each of the following organizations and their projects:

Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a Boston-based nonprofit that provides innovative services to runaway, homeless and high-risk youth, many of whom have experienced trauma in the past and now face greater challenges in the current public health crisis.  The grant will fund training for four counselors in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and virtual or residential program-based support group therapy sessions for homeless youth.  DBT teaches young adults skills to manage their behavioral health so they have a better chance to be able to focus on achieving long-term goals such as education, housing and employment.

United Teen Equality Center (UTEC), a nonprofit whose mission is to ignite and nurture the ambition of youth from Lowell and Lawrence.  The grant will support UTEC’s “Circling Home” pilot for incarcerated or probation/parole-involved young adults.  The project will create a behavioral health continuum of services for youth who are reentering their communities in this new pandemic environment.  The collaboration between behavioral health services and the criminal justice system aims to improve health outcomes and reduce recidivism.  UTEC is partnering with the Sheriff’s Offices in Middlesex and Essex counties, the Massachusetts Probation Service and Lowell Community Health Center.

William James College, an independent, nonprofit institution in Newton and a leader in psychology education that prepares students for careers in behavioral health.  The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing challenges in the behavioral health workforce.  The grant will support the Behavioral Health Service Corps, a pilot program that will engage 20 to 25 recent college graduates interested in behavioral health careers to spend a year learning about and working in inpatient units, home-based services, residential treatment and recovery centers.  A key goal is to diversify and grow the behavioral health workforce.  Initial employer partners include JRI, Riverside Community Care, Lahey Health Behavioral Services and the Home for Little Wanderers.

“Behavioral health is a key priority for the Foundation and the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened an already critical need to address systemic inequities in access to care,” said Audrey Shelto, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.  “We are supporting these creative, innovative projects and programs so that they have the opportunity to grow and, ultimately, serve many more people.”

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families in the Commonwealth.  The Foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.  It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation has awarded nearly $300,000 in grants to 20 nonprofits across Massachusetts to support their efforts to expand and adapt operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 The Foundation is awarding Special Initiative COVID-19 Response Grants to 10 nonprofits that predominantly serve people of color, rural communities, people experiencing homelessness, and other at-risk populations.  The grants, totaling $250,000, will support increased staffing needs, investments in IT infrastructure to abide by physical distancing guidelines, and changes in programs necessitated by the pandemic.

 “Organizations providing critical services across the state are facing significant new challenges during the pandemic, and the Foundation recognized the need to bolster their capacity to respond,” said Audrey Shelto, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.  “These grants will help these nonprofits reach and care for some of our most vulnerable individuals and families.”

The Foundation has given one-time, $25,000 grants to each of the following organizations and their projects:

Advocates, a Framingham-based nonprofit provider of services for individuals who face developmental, mental health or other life challenges.  The grant will support Advocates in addressing behavioral health access inequities for the Latinx population by investing in telehealth infrastructure and equipment for six newly hired bilingual clinicians and two medical assistants.

East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, whose mission is to provide accessible, high-quality, primary care to the community without regard to race, income or social circumstances.  Funding will support a collaboration with the Chelsea Senior Center to expand COVID-19 food delivery services in one of the hardest hit areas of the state by including medications and pharmacy goods to ensure access to necessary medications and encourage physical distancing.

Father’s Uplift helps fathers in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan overcome barriers that prevent them from remaining engaged in their children’s lives.  The funding will be used to help families meet their basic needs such as food and other necessities so that they can engage in mental health services.  The grant will also cover expenses associated with pivoting to remote counseling and therapy services.

Hilltown Community Health Center creates access to high-quality, integrated health care and promotes the well-being of individuals, families and communities in Western Massachusetts.  The COVID-19 crisis has increased the number of individuals seeking support.  The grant will support increased staff time for patient navigators and community health workers, along with Community Sustainable Agriculture shares for people with food insecurity.

La Alianza Hispana, a community-based organization that provides culturally and linguistically appropriate health and education programs to Greater Boston’s Latinx community.  The grants will support telehealth services for seniors through the Aliancianos Senior Center and for families with children ages 5 and younger through the Madres y Niños en Proceso program.

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts provides food to member agencies in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties.  Funding will cover increased staffing costs for a program operated in partnership with providers like the Holyoke Community Health Center that screens and matches the growing number of food insecure community members in that region with counseling, referrals, emergency food and other resources to address the social determinants of health.

Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless seeks to eradicate homelessness from Massachusetts and ensure that everyone has a place to call home.  The grant will allow the organization to continue to partner with the Lynn Community Health Center to assist referred families with food and housing assistance and develop plans to address their health-related social needs.

Lowell Community Health Center provides caring and culturally competent health services to people in Greater Lowell to reduce health disparities and empower each individual to maximize their wellbeing.  Funding will support multicultural communication and outreach efforts, focusing on immigrants and communities of color, and help expand capacity for medical interpretation to ensure that patients are referred to trusted partners to address health-related social needs.

Samaritans, Inc., a nonprofit that provides life-saving suicide prevention services throughout Greater Boston, MetroWest and across Massachusetts.  The award will fund upgrades to IT infrastructure that support a transition to virtual workshops for youths and their caregivers.  Samaritans is focusing on individuals in communities experiencing health inequities who are particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services oversees an array of services and programs, including mental health services, veteran’s services, youth and family services, disability services, and domestic and sexual violence services.  Most of its clients are economically disadvantaged and experience wide fluctuations in income, given the seasonality of the island’s economy.  The pandemic has exacerbated their financial situations.  Grant funding will help meet a dramatic increase in client requests for emergency assistance for basic needs such as rent, diapers, supplies and other health related social needs. 

In addition, the Catalyst Fund, a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts employee funded grant program administered by the Foundation, awarded $49,800 in grants to 10 organizations across Massachusetts addressing COVID-19 in their communities.  The grants will help provide basic needs to the vulnerable populations the grantees serve, including individuals experiencing homelessness, older adults, individuals with disabilities, low-income and immigrant families, and youth with mental health conditions.

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families in the Commonwealth.  The Foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.  It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation today released a new report, in collaboration with Manatt Health, showing that Massachusetts is well positioned to expand access to behavioral health care and that state policymakers, providers and payers can facilitate a “huge leap forward” by formally adopting new telebehavioral health policies and programs that were temporarily instituted at the outset of the COVID-19 crisis to connect patients with providers by telephone or video.

The report, titled Expanding Access to Behavioral Health Care in Massachusetts Through Telehealth: Sustaining Progress Post-Pandemic, provides an in-depth analysis of current barriers to adoption of telebehavioral health, details the attributes of optimal delivery models, and presents opportunities to expand and promote access among providers and consumers. The research began prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was finalized during the early stages of the health crisis, when state and federal governments revamped telehealth regulations to rapidly scale adoption amid quarantine and social distancing rules.

According to the report, Massachusetts led the nation in rapidly deploying progressive new policies to temporarily expand access to telehealth across payers and providers during the pandemic – prompting exponential growth in the use of telehealth, including telebehavioral health. Temporary policy changes included payment parity for all covered, in-network services via telehealth and prohibiting specific requirements on the types of technologies that can be used to deliver telehealth services.

“The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has made clear that telebehavioral health has the unique ability to improve access to behavioral health services in Massachusetts,” said Audrey Shelto, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. “This is especially true for populations with particularly challenging access barriers, such as individuals who are low income, homebound, or who live in rural areas of the state, where there are typically fewer available behavioral health providers.”

Telebehavioral health care – such as a visit between a patient with a substance use disorder and a clinician conducted virtually through a video platform or telephone – can lower cost and other logistical barriers for low-income individuals by reducing or removing the need for transportation, child care, or a flexible work schedule. The report acknowledges that temporary policies, if made permanent, could help sustain the state’s progress in expanded adoption of telebehavioral health. It also highlights additional recommendations for policies and programs to address remaining barriers, such as connectivity issues and lack of necessary technology that impact low-income and rural populations in particular.

Prior to the pandemic, the use of telehealth services was low in Massachusetts as compared to other states. When telehealth was used, it was most frequently for behavioral health services, with over half of Massachusetts telehealth insurance claims from 2015 to 2017 recorded for mental health services.

“As behavioral health conditions continue to affect individuals and communities in Massachusetts, it is critical for the state to reduce barriers to behavioral health care through telehealth technology and services,” said Patricia Boozang, senior managing director at Manatt Health. “We were honored to work alongside the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation to identify and highlight the means by which the state can continue expanding its telebehavioral health care offerings, both during the current public health crisis and beyond.”

The telebehavioral health report builds on the Ready for Reform report, released in January 2019 by the Foundation and Manatt, which urged policymakers and stakeholders to move beyond incremental improvements and take a transformational approach to the state’s fragmented, difficult-to-navigate behavioral health care system. The changes related to telebehavioral health implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic reflect a significant and positive step toward ultimately improving access to behavioral health services across the Commonwealth.

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families in the Commonwealth. The Foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors.

About Manatt Health

Manatt Health integrates legal and consulting services to better meet the complex needs of clients across the healthcare system. Combining legal excellence, firsthand experience in shaping public policy, sophisticated strategy insight and deep analytic capabilities, Manatt Health provides uniquely valuable professional services to the full range of health industry players. Manatt Health’s diverse team of more than 160 attorneys and consultants from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, and its consulting subsidiary, Manatt Health Strategies, LLC, is passionate about helping our clients advance their business interests, fulfill their missions and lead healthcare into the future. For more information, visit www.manatt.com/Health.