Massachusetts Health Policy Forum Focuses on Impacts of Federal Medicaid Cuts on Western Massachusetts

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The health policy forum “Impacts of Medicaid Cuts on Western Massachusetts,” co-sponsored by the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The event, part of the Brandeis University-based Philip W. Johnston Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, will run from 8:30-11:50 a.m. in the Bromery Center for the Arts, Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall, 151 Presidents Drive, Amherst.

The forum is free and open to the public, and seating is limited, so interested attendees are urged to register as soon as possible. Register here, and review the agenda here. 

In Massachusetts, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are combined into one program called MassHealth. Medicaid cuts resulting from the passage of H.R. 1, the federal budget reconciliation act dubbed “One Big Beautiful Act,” will result in an estimated 141,000 to 203,000 MassHealth members losing healthcare coverage, forum organizers say. 

The number of uninsured will likely increase significantly and adversely impact safety net providers and others throughout the healthcare system. 

Details of the law’s impact on the commonwealth as a whole will be followed by a deep-dive panel discussion of the impact on Western Massachusetts.

Kaitlyn Kenny Walsh, vice president of policy and research at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) Foundation, will present research that focuses on the impact on Massachusetts of federal funding regulations and policy changes. 

Audrey Shelto, president and CEO of BCBSMA Foundation, will moderate the panel on the implications for Western Massachusetts. Panelists include Michael Levine, undersecretary of MassHealth at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services; Tania Barber, president and CEO of the Caring Health Center; Dean Sanpei, chief administrative officer of Baystate Health; and Iiana Steinhauer, executive director of Volunteers in Medicine.