Health insurance programs for the disabled

MASSHEALTH - Masshealth is a fairly comprehensive health insurance program that covers most outpatient services, inpatient services, prescription medications and medical equipment. Generally speaking, to be eligible for MassHealth as a disabled individual, you must:

have a disability that is equal to the severity of disability required to get Social Security or SSI benefits (generally this means your disability must be expected to last for 12 months or more and prevent you from working)
Have gross income below 133% of the federal poverty guidelines
there is no asset test for eligibility

To apply for MassHealth, call the MassHealth enrollment office at 1-888-665-9993. The MassHealth program is run by the Office of Medicaid (MassHealth).

COMMONHEALTH - CommonHealth is a program designed to provide medical coverage for disabled individuals who are not eligible for regular MassHealth (CommonHealth is run by the same agency and is considered part of MassHealth but it works differently). Some facts about CommonHealth:

it is available to disabled individuals with income above 133% of the federal poverty level. People with higher incomes pay a premium to join CommonHealth, just as you would with regular health insurance, but generally the premium is much smaller than you would pay for commercial health insurance and if your income is low you won't have any premium at all.
CommonHealth can be used even if you have other health insurance to pay for things that your other health insurance doesn't cover. It is more comprehensive than many commercial plans.
CommonHealth is only available to people who meet a deductible or who work at least 40 hours a month.

To apply for CommonHealth or learn more about the program, call 1-888-665-9993 (this is the same number one calls to apply for MassHealth, they can tell you about both programs).

MEDICARE - Disabled individuals receiving SSDI are also eligible for Medicare after 2 years. For more information about Medicare, click here.