Massachusetts law about Medicaid (MassHealth)

Laws, regulations, cases and web sources on MassHealth.

If you are unable to find the information you are looking for, or if you have a specific question, please contact our law librarians for assistance.

Table of Contents

Best bets

MassHealth, Exec. Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS).
Includes an overview of the program, information for recipients, information for providers, how to apply, and more.

Medicaid, US Dept. of Health and Human Services. Includes general information, enrollment and coverage, and more.

Massachusetts laws

MGL c.118E Division of Medical Assistance

Massachusetts regulations

130 CMR 501-610 MassHealth regulations

Federal laws

42 USC §§ 1396 et seq. Medical assistance programs

Federal regulations

42 CFR 430-456 Federal Medicaid regulations

Selected cases

Guilfoil v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 486 Mass. 788 (2021)
Provides a lengthy discussion of the use of nominee trusts in Medicaid planning, and the difference between nominee trusts and traditional trusts. Also, "the retention by an applicant of a life estate in his or her primary residence does not render the property a countable asset."

In the matter of the estate of Frances R. Mason, 493 Mass. 148 (2023)
"This court concluded that the State-administered health insurance program for low-income residents (MassHealth), having placed a lien against the property of a Medicaid recipient who had been permanently institutionalized, could not enforce that lien after the recipient's death". [Taken from headnote].

Web sources

Member booklet for health and dental coverage and help paying costs, Exec. Office of Health and Human Services, March 2023.
Includes how to get MassHealth, details about coverage, and more.

Requiring adult children to pay for aging parents, ElderLaw Answers.
Helpful information on laws that may require adult children to support their parents. See also, Massachusetts' filial responsibility law, MGL c. 273, § 20.

Senior guide to health care coverage, MassHealth.
Includes how to get MassHealth, details about coverage, and geared toward seniors.

Print sources

Elder law (Mass. Practice v.56), Thomson/West, annual. Chapters 8 and 9. 

Estate planning for the aging or incapacitated client in Massachusetts, 5th ed., MCLE, loose-leaf, Chapter 32 Resource Planning for MassHealth Coverage.

Estate planning with forms, 3rd ed. (Mass Practice v.24), Thomson/West, with supplement. Chapter 29 Estate Planning and Medicaid.

Massachusetts elder law, LexisNexis Matthew Bender.

MassHealth from application to approval, MCLE, 2020.

Medicaid and health planning update, MCLE, 2022.

Medicare and Medicaid claims and procedures, West, with supplement.

Preserving and transferring your client's principal residence, MCLE, 2014.

Protecting assets while qualifying for Medicaid, National Business Institute, 2021.

Contact   for Massachusetts law about Medicaid (MassHealth)

Last updated: January 2, 2024

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