October 4, 2017
It has been very difficult to obtain actual data to establish the numbers of people with disabilities among the Medicaid expansion population, given the dearth of both tracked disability-related questions and optional demographic information on disability in the streamlined  enrollment application.  Nonetheless, we submit that many working low-income people with disabilities, including individuals with multiple chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes who may not typical identify as a person with a disability, have enrolled in Medicaid through the expansion option.  Consequently, we are deeply concerned by the proposal to eliminate the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit for MassHealth CarePlus enrollees, otherwise known as the Medicaid expansion population, except for transportation for substance use disorder (SUD)-related services.