The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today awarded RealBenefits (a technology company started by HCFA’s partner, Community Catalyst) one of its first-ever MacArthur awards recognizing small non-profit organizations with a proven track record of creativity and effectiveness. The Foundation is awarding $500,000 to RealBenefits for its ability to change “social services as usual.”
RealBenefits is among nine international winners for small organizations that are “particularly effective at delivering services and challenging old paradigms,” according to Foundation Pres. Jonathan Fanton. “These awards recognize nine extraordinary organizations and, we hope, allow them to unleash their inspiration and impact on a larger scale in the future.”
Since RealBenefits was introduced in Massachusetts and Illinois three years ago, community-based organizations and health care providers have used the service to reach 80,000 families, connecting them to over $300 million in benefits such as Medicaid and Food Stamps.
HCFA used RB in our outreach and enrollment activities to sign folks up for MassHealth, Food Stamps, and other public benefits. After we do a ten minute screening interview, RB assesses instantly a client’s eligibility for public benefits, and then produces completed, ready to sign and mail/fax applications.
Two key advantage RB has over the state’s “Virtual Gateway” – 1. Unlike VG, anyone and any organization can be trained to use RB; and 2. Unlike VG, RB users keep their own database to track applications and do follow-up.
For about three years, RB worked in good faith with the Romney Administration to allow RB users to file applications electronically, just like the VG. Last June, Romney officials informed RB they were canceling further work on a “third party interface.”
RB is now used in five states. RB is a Massachusetts-grown, high tech start up company – the kind the Romney Administration says it likes to encourage. Today’s Globe describes the frustration of dealing with the Administration on this. Too bad it takes a national foundation to recognize what the Romney folks can’t see under their own noses.
