Common app needed for MassHealth and SNAP
WE ARE glad to see the Globe acknowledge the need to better coordinate health care (“A necessary prescription for MassHealth,” April 29). Hopefully, accountable care will lead to both healthier patients and cost savings. We recommend an additional prescription.
Permitting low income families to file for both Mass-Health and the federally-funded nutrition (SNAP) benefits simultaneously is key. A common application would reduce administrative red tape for families and improve the health of young children. Children’s HealthWatch research shows that young children enrolled in MassHealth who received SNAP were more likely to be food-secure and in better health than children eligible for, but not receiving, SNAP.
Many families eligible for one public assistance benefit are often eligible for others as well. A comparison of SNAP and MassHealth data by the Mass Law Reform Institute suggests a “SNAP Gap” of roughly 600,000 very low-income MassHealth recipients eligible for SNAP but not enrolled. This is due, in part, to difficulties navigating multiple government agencies. Families often submit duplicate documentation to access a disjointed patchwork of programs. Massachusetts should seize the opportunity and offer families a common application portal.
Dr. Megan Sandel
Richard Sheward
Children’s HealthWatch
Boston
