Health Connector: Temporary MassHealth price tag $658 million [View all]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2015/06/health_connector_temporary_masshealth_price_tag_658_million

Health Connector: Temporary MassHealth price tag $658 million
Andy Metzger / State House News Service
Friday, June 12, 2015

Massachusetts spent a total of $658 million on providing temporary Medicaid coverage to residents after the Health Connector site failed about a year ago, an agency official told the News Service on Friday.

That total includes $138 million in fiscal 2014 and $520 million in fiscal 2015, and does not account for any federal reimbursement. MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, receives substantial funding from the federal government.

The number is "close to" the final tally of the program's cost because even though it ended in February there can be a "claims lag," Connector spokesman Jason Lefferts said.

The temporary Medicaid coverage was turned to as an emergency measure because of the failure of the state's attempt to create a functioning health exchange website that was compliant with the Affordable Care Act in 2013.