This is numbers week for the Healthy Blog. Late August is when lots of statistics seem to issue forth from their bureaucratic hiding place.
First up: 1,081,823. That’s the total MassHealth enrollment, as of June 30, 2007. For the first year of health reform, June 30, 2006 to June 30, 2007, MassHealth’s net enrollment growth was 47,378. The increase for kids was 22,873; for adults, 24,505 (including 5,602 disabled adults and 2,349 seniors).
For a historical perspective, see the helpful chart maintained by the Mass Medicaid Policy Institute below (not updated for the latest month)
The program with the largest growth in the past year was kids in the Family Assistance program, which increased its eligibility cap to 300%. Enrollment in the program grew by 18,362 children.
The other significant growth was in MassHealth Essential, which added 9,438 below-poverty long-term unemployed adults. Chapter 58 increased the enrollment cap for the program, which had a waiting list for months prior to July 2006.
MassHealth is one of the pillars of chapter 58. One of the key but often overlooked goals of health reform was getting the already eligible but unenrolled into MassHealth. These new numbers indicate that progress has been made on this front, but more work remains.
