Massachusetts' MassHealth Program

The MassHealth outreach strategy was composed of four components: coordination, marketing, training, and special initiatives, which included activities such as:

Specific activities of each of the four outreach components are described below.

Coordination. From past expansion program experience, it was realized that the old outreach process was not enough. More partners were needed to reach SCHIP enrollment goals, so MassHealth collaborated with the following partners in the outreach effort:

Other agencies - Joint planning, application development, and outreach was conducted with the Public Health Department. Training was conducted with child care agencies and other human service agencies. MassHealth worked with the Department of Education on school initiatives, and the Department of Corrections assisted with mailings to limit costs.

Advocates - Monthly outreach meetings were conducted with advocacy organizations to share experiences and information. Advocates have worked with providers to create a coalition to support coverage efforts.

Providers - Participated in significant discussion prior to implementation; set clear financial incentives to participate; and supported outreach workers who train outreach staff in hospitals and community health centers. The Hospital Association and Medical Association have started their own campaigns.

Community organizations - Fifty-two mini-grants of $5,000 - $20,000 were awarded throughout State. Mini-grant award winners will target geographic communities, ethnic or language groups, and their known service populations (e.g., Community Action Program (CAP) Agencies will contact people receiving fuel assistance) for enrollment in SCHIP:

Outreach methods grantees utilized, as of September 16, 1998, included direct mail, local media efforts (i.e., newspaper inserts), health fairs, door-to-door outreach, and innovative activities such as raffles.

MassHealth has maintained regular communication with grantees through training of grantee staff and regional monthly meetings to share best practices, discuss problems, and update grantees on policy changes.

Cities/towns/schools - The Municipal Medicaid program was used to involve towns in the SCHIP outreach and marketing.

Marketing. In addition to partnering with other organizations and agencies, the MassHealth program developed a local and Statewide publicity campaign which included:

Training. The MassHealth program expanded training efforts by joining with other community partners to train staff on eligibility for all programs, not just SCHIP. The training targeted front-line workers in a variety of organizations beyond traditional organizations such as hospitals and community health centers.

Special Initiatives. The MassHealth program also conducts outreach through several special child initiatives.

The Schools/Child Care Initiative involved work with school nurses in collaboration with the Public Health department to produce fliers for distribution to all schools and child care programs. The School/Child Care Initiative is planned to continue next year with work on processes for emergency referrals and identification of those who need coverage. Development of a process to capture newly registered kids at schools and day care programs is also in progress.

Other child-related initiatives have included a library campaign and work with recreational facilities and summer camps.