Blazing the Trail to Expanded Medicare Enrollment and TPL Savings in Massachusetts
When other insurance is available, TPL regulations require that Medicaid members first access all other benefits to which they may be entitled, including Medicare. However, like the Oregon Trail, the path to Medicare enrollment may be fraught with obstacles, pitfalls, and roadblocks for both members and states.
This poster, developed and presented with the Massachusetts Medicaid program, MassHealth, at the 2026 Medicaid Enterprise Systems Conference, highlights the FY26 Massachusetts Medicare Enrollment Expansion Initiative. This collaboration integrated enhanced policy, data, operational, and reporting solutions to overcome enrollment barriers. It also more than tripled the number of members from the previous fiscal year who were newly enrolled in Medicare. The poster illustrates the stages of our journey and best practices learned along the trail, including:
Over 85% of members responded to enrollment efforts or had action taken on their cases, resulting in over $55M in annual new TPL gross savings for Massachusetts (as of July 2026).