During Covid-19 Public Health Emergency, many families in Boston were able to stay automatically enrolled in MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, without re-enrolling annually. According to an October 19 article by CNBC, the Public Health Emergency has been renewed for another 90 days and is set to expire as of January 11, 2023. Once it is lifted, states will have to resume their annual re-enrollment process across the span of 14 months. It is estimated that 15 million Americans will no longer qualify for Medicaid or CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program), with approximately 7 million losing coverage due to an inability to complete the necessary enrollment paperwork on time despite being eligible. This will put undue financial and emotional stress on lower-income families, who will soon have an added volume of health bills to pay each fiscal year in the form of higher premiums, copays, or co-insurance payments. Families depending on the Federal Nutrition Program during the pandemic will suffer from a reduction in food access if they are taking on additional health expenses.
Helping with these increased medical expenses is one of the ways Lend A Hand Society’s Emergency Assistance grants aid families with covering their essential basic needs.