MassHealth anticipates making these funds available beginning in April 2020 and will provide the funding through July 2020. Exact dates for funding disbursements have yet to be provided. The $800 million in stabilization funding will be divided among hospitals, nursing facilities and other healthcare providers.

Support to Hospitals

More than $400 million of the $800 million in MassHealth funds will be allocated to hospitals, with the majority of funding designated to support 28 “safety-net and high Medicaid hospitals.” The governor’s announcement does not enumerate these 28 hospitals.

The roughly $400 million allocated to hospitals includes a 20% rate increase for COVID-19 care to Medicaid beneficiaries, as well as a 7.5% increase in rates for all MassHealth care provided. The 20% rate increase for COVID-19 care is not defined. While recent MassHealth Guidance indicates that COVID-19 care includes home visits related to the virus, quarantine in hospital, and diagnostic lab services with respect to testing for the virus, providers will need further guidance on what additional specific care is actually subject to the rate increase. Updates likely will be posted to the MassHealth Provider Guidance page along with relevant COVID-19 billing codes as they are generated.

Support to Nursing Facilities

Upwards of $80 million is reserved for nursing facilities, including $50 million in the form of a MassHealth rate increase available to all nursing homes. Nursing facilities and units designated as COVID-19 sites of care will receive an additional $30 million in funding. Per Governor Baker’s March 27, 2020, letter regarding skilled nursing facilities, Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center is the first of these specially designated centers. The Commonwealth is actively seeking additional skilled nursing facilities for the COVID-19 site of care designation.

Support to Other Healthcare Providers

The stabilization funding also includes $300 million designated for “other health care providers that are delivering medical care for COVID-19 or providing services that keep residents safe in their homes.” This includes more than $50 million for community health centers; approximately $30 million for personal care attendants; and unspecified amounts of funding for ambulance providers, physicians, community behavioral health providers and home health agencies, as well as other long-term services and day programs such as Adult Day Health or Day Habilitation programs that have converted from group programs to actively serving members via alternative means” Guidance for MassHealth LTSS Providers can be found here.

Key Takeaways

The stabilization funding is in addition to the previously unveiled $290 million in cash relief and $550 million in accelerated payments announced last month. The governor’s announcement did not foreclose the government from providing additional funding at a later date, and stated that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services will “continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”

The stabilization funding comes as healthcare providers are reeling financially from their inability to perform elective procedures in order to reserve capacity to address the coming surge of COVID-19 patients. The Governor noted that MassHealth is able to provide the relief package because of “savings MassHealth is seeing by not paying for those elective procedures, along with increases in federal reimbursement rates to deal with COVID-19 treatment.” For this reason, deploying the aid package will not require a supplemental budget or legislation.

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