On the Road: HUSKY work requirements
In the last month, our team has been to several community events, talking with people about new federal HUSKY Part D work requirements. DSS estimates that about 100,000 people could lose coverage starting in January. We are focused on letting caregivers know they are exempt from work requirements, but they can be hard to reach. AARP estimates that 60,000 Connecticut residents with incomes under $25,000 are caregiving for family and friends. Many are likely to be on HUSKY or they should be.
We’ve talked with at least a hundred people at a community info session in Hamden and Alzheimer Association of Connecticut walk-a-thons. We talked with many caregivers there, walking with the people they care for. CT Public reported yesterday on caregivers and the HUSKY work requirements.
Most people we met are unaware of the work requirements – HUSKY members and everyone else.
One woman who signed up for more information said, “They won’t cut me off without letting me know, right?” She didn’t remember getting a notice. We urged her to update her contact info with DSS. They can’t let you know if they don’t know how to reach you.
We only met one HUSKY Part D member who knew about the work requirements. (He is working and should be fine.)
Sadly, we found that most providers are also unaware of the changes coming. We focused on home care agencies, as they care for people who rely on caregivers. Almost all were very concerned, asked for more information, and signed up for updates.
Personally, it has been great fun and very rewarding to reconnect in person with HUSKY members, providers, advocacy groups, community leaders, and other people who care. (Policy analysis isn’t as exciting as it sounds.)
I want to thank our outreach team – Tisa Biswas, Emily Martinez-Clark, Maria Canales, Dan Camenga, Rep. Laurie Sweet, Karen Bivens, John and Christopher Clark. Many thanks to the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut and the Town of Hamden. I also want to thank the dozens of people making unsolicited donations, offering to help, asking for materials and resources to talk to people in their communities and workplaces.
We have updated our HUSKYcaregivers.org page with lists of HUSKY D members in all CT towns, alphabetically and sorted by number. All towns have HUSKY Part D members at risk of losing coverage. We also updated the outreach slides. Newsletter blurbs coming soon, as requested.